Stephen De La Vega

  The Scorpion Weed, also known as phacelia hastata, or Silverleaf Phacelia. I’m not a plant buff – not even in the slightest – but I’ve seen these plants in the wild. They boast pretty clusters of purple blooms 1 to 2 feet above the ground. The image above was captured a month ago, in late Fall, so the stems and blooms have died off. But the plant itself is perennial so it retains life, and it returns to vibrancy in the Spring. I spotted this Silverleaf where it can be easily trampled but it is a survivor, nonetheless. I expect it will endure the snow and flourish again after the winter. It even defends itself against human predators. Like poison oak, its hairy flowers, seed pods, and stems are equipped with rash-inducing oils. So, if we don’t respect this plant when we see it, we might respect it later if we touch it. Many of us respect life in nature, but not all of us. Many of us respect human life, but not all of us.   This post is Episode 6 of an 8-episode series about...

Its garbage day but I hardly noticed when I left the house this morning. A rainbow overshadowed the trash bins. It was a delightful rainbow against an otherwise dreary sky. When we see rainbows, we probably remember that God will never flood the world again. But did you know rainbows are reminders for God Himself? He actually designed these colorful displays so He Himself would remember His promise to us and all animals. That’s right. When water is in the air, God remembers that He will never again use it to destroy all life (see Genesis 9:14-15 ). That’s how much he cares about us.  No matter how much garbage is in our lives, God loves us. God spoke this promise directly to Noah and his sons – the first generation to walk the earth after the worldwide flood. But it didn’t take long for Noah’s descendants to turn away from God and begin to generate the garbage of sin. We are people characterized by sin. Even what is surely good in our eyes is considered filth by ...