Kingdom Manure

Kingdom Manure

Growing up in the suburbs of Minneapolis, we lived in a nice home on a two-acre lot with a swimming pool. Of the eight children, my brother Mike and I were responsible for lawn care. That meant cutting the grass, weeding the flowerbeds and picking up dog poop. These chores kept us busy and out of trouble. At times, we felt like slave labor while our five sisters enjoyed some housework and the pool.

One year our father got the idea to plant an orchard of fruit trees. Once planted these trees needed constant watering and care. One day a dump truck arrived and deposited a whole load of manure. Mike and I were instructed to shovel the manure in a wheelbarrow and spread it around each fruit tree. For us it was more than one day’s work. When finished we smelled like the inside of a barn.

 I finally worked up the nerve to ask my dad why fruit trees need manure, he told me two things. First, manure is full of nutrients that feed a tree so that it can produce fruit. That answer was hard to believe considering where it came from. Secondly, he said that manure spreading was character building. He went on to say that in life, there are situations that are far worse than the smell of manure. It was time to learn how to handle the smell.

Jesus told a Kingdom story about manure: “A man had an apple tree planted in his front yard. He came to it expecting to find apples, but there weren’t any. He said to the gardener, ‘What’s going on here? For three years now I’ve come to this tree expecting apples and not one apple have I found. Chop it down! Why waste good ground with it any longer?’ The gardener said. ‘Let’s give it another year. I’ll dig around it and fertilize it, and maybe it will produce next year; if it doesn’t, then chop it down.’”

Producing fruit either on a tree or in the heart needs more than wishful thinking. It takes a lot of tender loving care and a wheelbarrow load of manure. Just because it stinks doesn’t mean it ain’t good for you!

Thanks Dad for all the character building.