Ahh, will I end up with a plant analogy? If you read these, maybe you don’t even wonder. But I do. I always do—especially on days like this one where I have a thought in my head that I don’t really understand, but hey, gotta go with it.
I keep thinking, “Don’t cast your pearls before the swine.”
Now, I know this is not a direct quote from Matthew and the Sermon on the Mount, but let’s be honest: if it were a direct quote, then I am just opening myself up to which translation is used, what is most accurate… blah blah blah. Which actually, now that I think about it, is EXACTLY what is on my mind.
I could post an exact scripture just to have it torn apart and over-analyzed. Then the essence of what it makes me feel—and how it correlates to my life—just gets lost because I put it out there for individuals who were not in need of what I had, and therefore would just turn on me.
Having spent a good portion of my life (early teens through mid-thirties) in the Midwestern non-denominational conservative church world, that scripture always fascinated me. Like, why were people trying to give wild hogs their jewelry? It was mentioned plenty, but never really explored past that.
Now, while I am not “religious” in the sense of going to a building and following their laws, I do very much believe there is great value in the letters in red. And this is one of them. Which means it had to be there for a reason, right?
My 46-year-old brain had it come to mind, and I could not get it out of my head. Normally when that happens, there is a reason. I have this little project I am doing, so I thought, “Is that it?” Then I knew I was about to blog and thought, “No, maybe that’s it. Maybe I need to be careful about what I write.”
Well, easier said than done. I just sit here and type; can’t really say I put “critical thinking” into it, or I would never write—and wouldn’t enjoy it if I did!
So I looked it up, seeking what it was actually talking about. It was actually kind of crazy. I went down a bit of a rabbit hole (or got deep in the mud… maybe of a pig pen).
Did you know that if you throw a pearl—or anything precious that a pig can’t eat—into a pig pen, not only do they not appreciate the great value it might hold to you, but they literally see it as something to consume? Until they realize that they can’t… and then rage kicks in. It makes them actually aggressive toward the person who tossed it, like to the point of attacking them!
I did not know this! That is insane to me… I mean, this is next-level hangry!
As I was picturing that poor little old lady who was bent over the pig pen only to have the clasp of her pearls break, just to find out that losing the pearls might not even be the worst part of her day, I thought… hmm, that is so true. What we hold dear, what is precious and wildly important to us, is not meant to be consumed by all.
Sometimes we think we are doing the world a favor by sharing our newfound truth, or love of plants, or politics, or whatever that football app is that people do (hmm, can you tell which I follow the least?). But the reality of it is, not everyone is wired like us. Not everyone is at a point in their life where they want or need to seek higher truths, or learn how to get that corm to sprout, or figure out who is more corrupt, or… ehhh, let me think, picturing my son… I don’t know, something about stats.
And if you talk about it too much, you wear out your welcome. (I do have to say here, my son does not talk about football apps. I just hear him sometimes and really should not have used this reference because I am lost on it, but I don’t want to go back and delete the first one, so yeah, here it is).
That is okay. “Don’t cast your pearls before the swine.”
Find your community. It might take some effort, but you can find them. Then you can show just how neurotic you are about the subject, and they will mirror that enthusiasm. Then you will find that you have 400 plants and look at your bed thinking… maybe I should downsize from a King to a twin for real estate!
I’m joking… no really, I am… seriously, I promise!
Anyway, that is my thought: find what you love, and find those who love it as much as you. But I mean, use discretion… if ALL you think about is any one thing, it might be time to reevaluate… keep the bed!