Much Like All of Us!

The blooming of the Skunk Cabbage is on the horizon.  Normally this plant blooms more towards late February.  This year it seems a little ahead of schedule.  I checked my favorite Skunk Cabbage patch last weekend and I estimate that patch is about a 7-10 days away from blooming.

The flowers are quite spectacular, with a large maroon-colored spathe surrounding a short and stubby spadix, where the actual reproductive structures are housed.  Currently the spathe is exposed above the slimy muck of the swamp this plant calls home, but the spathe has not opened quite yet to reveal the spadix.

Skunk Cabbage is called Skunk Cabbage because the vegetative part, which looks all the world like a big leafy cabbage and appears after the blooms fade, smells something awful.  Tear off a piece of leaf and give it a smell.  It will be an experience you will soon not forget!

Back to the flower though, once the spathe opens, the process of decomposition begins at the base of the spathe.  This decomposition, like most decomposition, produces a foul odor.  The reason is to attract pollinators, in this case most likely flies and beetles.  Most bees aren't flying in early February!  This decomposition also generates heat, which of course will also attract flies and beetles trying to get in out of the cold.  Sometime try taking a thermometer and comparing the air temperature to the temperature inside the spathe and you'll see what I mean.

While there is rottenness in the Skunk Cabbage flower, obviously there is some good things about it too.  It provides a home for insects.  It is beautiful to look at.  It adds color to an otherwise dreary Ohio winter day.  The Skunk Cabbage is kind of like people.  Pretty much all of us have some kind of rottenness inside of us (called sin).  But at the same time, we are capable of doing wonderful things for others, and cheering up someone's otherwise dreary day.  I think too often we are guilty of judging folks by their rottenness, rather than trying to build upon their good.  God calls upon us to love each other, despite the stink in our attitudes, words, or clothing. 

Only by focusing on the good will you be able to remove the stink!