John G. Reisinger

There were two men who lived side by side. They would usually have coffee together every afternoon on one of their back porches. It was kind of a 'make my day' fellowship. Both was well known as a writer on good gardening and Mr. Critic was noted as knowing, and being quite eager to share, a very little bit of knowledge about great many things. He "knew nothing about a whole lot." Both men were constantly expressing how much they loved fresh homegrown vegetables even though neither of them had ever actually planted a garden. Their back yards backed up to a man's yard whose name was Mr. Zeal.

Mr. Zeal had just moved into his house and one of the first things he did was plow up half of his back yard. Mr. Expert and Mr. Critic, having coffee, said, "He surely is not going to plant a garden since it is much too early. Nothing will grow." The next day Mr. Zeal came out with a bag of seed corn and some tomato plants. He began to dig rows for the corn and punch holes for the tomato plants. Mr. Expert felt it was his duty to inform Mr. Zeal that this was not at all the correct way, or the right time, to plant either tomatoes or corn. He carefully explained the correct way and time to Mr. Zeal. He assured Mr. Zeal that he was an expert. He was certain that Mr. Zeal's efforts would all be wasted.

After listening patiently, Mr. Zeal replied, "I appreciate your concern, but my grandpa always planted things according to the moon cycles and he always had good crops." Mr. Expert could hardly keep from laughing out loud. He said, "Mr. Zeal, I have written over fifteen books on home gardening. I wrote one book dealing with nothing but tomatoes. Trust me, you are wasting your time and effort." Mr. Zeal again thanked him for his concern and kept on planting the corn and tomatoes.

Several days later, while Mr. Expert and Mr. Critic were sipping coffee and extolling the merits of home grown vegetables, Mr. Zeal came out with five other kinds of seeds and began planting them. Mr. Critic said, "Look how close the rows are. They will choke each other out for sure." His friend agreed. For the next month, Mr. Expert and Mr. Critic found several things wrong with Mr. Zeal's gardening every day. They would laugh and make fun and express how silly Mr. Zeal was going to appear.

In the middle of June, Mr. Zeal began to harvest the first vegetables. It seemed like every day something new was ready to pick. The tomatoes were the biggest and brightest red you will ever see. The corn ears were full, juicy, and as sweet as could be. A strange thing happened. About the middle of June Mr. Expert and Mr. Critic quit having coffee on their back porch. They never resumed their wonderful time of fellowship until after everything in Mr. Zeal's garden had been harvested. I wonder if they asked themselves, "How come he has vegetables and we have none when we know everything and he knows nothing?"

There were also two neighbors whose names were Mr. True Gospel Expert and Mr. False Gospel Critic. They used to have coffee and talk about how zealous they were to see sinners saved even though they never witnessed to lost people. They felt 'called' to inform all the people who were witnessing that they were doing it all wrong. And it came to pass … you finish the story. I will go and weep.

Copyright 2004 John G. Reisinger