Spiritual Lessons from Biology

“The kingdom of Heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away.” —Matthew 13v24-25 I recently read a paper about weed control in New Zealand. This tells you a lot about how exciting my social life is…but it also tells you about my appreciation for journal access and my love of keeping up with current biological literature. In the paper, the authors seek to once and for all determine the sure-fire way to control New Zealand’s most invasive weed—the dreaded Scotch Broom. Biologists set up five different plots in the broomiest tangle of the Canterbury Plains. This was their method: Plot #1: Shave the woody weeds down into mulch, so that the native species can savor their victory by gaining nutrition from their would-be foes. Plot #2: Tear the weeds up by the roots, leaving not a shred to remind us of their hateful existence. Plot #3: Hulk Smash! Crush them flatter than a pancak