Some Seeds Need to Die

My son likes to walk along the edge of the sidewalk, the curb. The entire sidewalk is available to him, but he teeters along the edge playing with the possibility of falling off and into the street. "Walk in the middle where it is safe" I say everyday. "Cars are coming move over so you wont get hit" I repeat over and over again. "If you fall you might hurt yourself" I warn. But every day, he goes right back to the edge, obviously saying to himself 'I'm sure I wont get hurt, I'm careful' or 'She worries too much'! Sometimes he does trip and fall into the street. Sometimes he almost does and I swear, that is when he has the most fun. My boy is not just a boy. He is a little man and I see seeds of 'man-retardation' in him everyday. (I'm laying prostrate and praying for him right now!) There can be a whole side walk of safe for a man, good home, cooked meals, the right amount of romance, fun, laughter, excitement all with a beauty beyond measure and this, now this full-fledged retardation plant, has gone out and walked on the edge. Cheating, lying, gambling, whatever the curb is. Oh, he knows the risks but its all a game to him. The mere thrill of rotating your arms to keep from falling out into the street is just what the doctor ordered for the retardation plant. He tight-ropes the curb again and again with no real remorse. Oh sure he says to himself "one day, I'll stay in the middle, one day real soon, but first..." or "I'm sure having a bad sidewalk day, think I'll see whats up with the curb over here"

It baffles me how seemingly good men can do this. How can you risk everything to walk on a curb? How can you hurt the ones you love just to rotate your arms in an 'almost fall'? I'll never get the understanding of the retarded plant.

There is a sermon in there somewhere.