If you’ve ever seen a field of fireweed before,
you’ve probably been impressed. Tall spires of furious pink in the summer fade away to burning red foliage that creeps up the mountainsides like the fires for which it is named. The first time I was introduced to fireweed was when my cousin made a glowing jelly from its flowers and served it on fresh bread spread thickly with salty butter. Fireweed is in the willowherb family and takes its name from the fact that it tends to rapidly colonize areas that have been destroyed by fire or other disasters. It is its ability to thrive in the aftermath of destruction that makes it today’s topic of choice.
Fireweed is, quite frankly, utterly beautiful. It can often stand over seven feet tall (or sometimes only reach knee high – 18”) and generally shows its brilliant pink flowers en masse. Strikingly colored hawk and sphinx moths pollinate fireweed, only adding to the vibrant impression it makes on the eyes. Even after the flowers of fireweed have long gone to seed, the plants themselves turn a brilliant red to herald the onset of winter. When the seedpods of fireweed have matured, they burst open at the slightest touch, ready to distribute their seeds attached to minute strands of silk across the earth. These plants stand eight feet tall and yet have a seed so small that it takes 6,800,000 of them to make a pound.
It seems so incredible that a seed so miniscule, can, over time, produce fields upon fields of elegant beauty and sustenance for moths and other pollinators. It is good to hear God’s voice through the pieces of His creation. As Christians, we have a chance every day to plant a tiny seed of Christ into the life of someone else. Just as the seeds of Fireweed have a tendency to come to life in areas decimated by fire, even the tiniest word of God can create something new in a life of destructive behaviors or traumatic events. When a fire burns through the wilderness, the soil that it leaves behind is incredibly fertile. Sometimes the fires of our own lives create a heart ready for the word of God. When compared to our lives, one of the most encouraging pieces of the life cycle of fireweed is that its seeds can sit for years and years before they burst into beauty.
Each day I have spent with our students in the backcountry, I am reminded that the conversations we share now may sit dormant for years before coming to fruition. Sometimes it is challenging to feel as if the hard work we do is making no headway, but I hope and pray that each student will one day look back to those times spent in the woods and realize that they learned something good: That there is hope through Christ and new relationships; and most of all that they have an opportunity to plant seeds of life and hope into the hearts of others as well.