I was with my mother as she was gardening the other day. As she dug up clumps of earth with her fork she complained, “I wish these tomatoes were as resilient as the weeds are. You don’t have to put any insecticides or manure and they grow outrageously. My tomatoes are getting blight. Yet they all grow in the same soil.”
Later on I thought to myself, we humans are like that. The rogues and rascals thrive, while good people are ruined. A setback, a harsh word or an illness and we succumb. We dig in our heels; we give up and claim we are victims. If the rogues were to be deterred by the harsh words they have heard or even some of the unpleasant consequences they have had, this world would be a utopia. Yet they forge on against all odds.
We should learn from them. But of what use is a weed or scoundrel to anyone? Maybe a hybrid would work. We need to have the usefulness of a tomato and the resilience of a weed.
