A recent trip to Costa Rica made me acutely aware of both the good and bad that human beings do to the environment so I decided not to use weed killer on my lawn this year. As a homework assignment at a three-week seminar on ecology and theology at the Lexington Theological Seminary, we were asked to write a short statement personifying something in nature. Here’s my assignment.

“What are you so happy about?” A violet asks the dandelion. “I just overheard our owner say she’s not using weed killer on us this year.” “Well, that’s good news.” “She probably would have decided that sooner, if just you violets were in the yard. Humans like your little purple flowers. They don’t mind me so much when I’m just yellow flowers, but when I rise up with the fuzz balls to send my children off, I feel like Rosa Parks on the bus. It is not just humans that suffer because of hatred.”

So with apologies to my neighbors with perfect yards, I will have dandelions and violets, chickweed, and crab grass but I won’t be adding poison to the lake. Have you ever read what it says on the bags of lawn weed killers?