God speaking to St. Francis God: " Francis, what in the world is going on down there in the mid-west today? You know all about gardens and nature and how wonderful my creation was. What happened to the dandelions, violets, thistles, and clover I made ions ago? I had a perfect no maintenance garden going. All those plants grow in any type of soil, withstand drought and multiply with great abandon. The nectar from the blossoms attracts butterflies, honey bees and flocks of songbirds. I expected to see a lovely array of colors blooming today. Looked down today and all I see are these green squares." St. Francis " Well sir, it's those dang suburbanites. They started calling your flowers weeds and they go to great lengths to kill them and replace them with grass." God: " Grass? How boring. It isn't colorful, does not draw butterflies, birds or bees. Grass is so temperamental with temperatures. Won't grow in shade, burns out in sun. Are you sure that is what they want?" St. Francis: " Apparently so Lord, they go to great pains to grow it and keep it green. They begin early in spring by fertilizing, then poison any other plant that crops up in the lawn." God: " They must love the spring rains and warm weather that I send to make things grow fast." St. Francis: "Apparently not, Sir, as soon as it grows a few inches they go buy an expensive thing called a mower and cut it. " God: "No kidding they cut it? Do they bail it and sell it like hay?" St. Francis: " Not exactly , Lord most of them rake it and put into plastic bags and pay to have it taken away." God: " Let me get this straight. First they fertilize it so it will grow, then they cut it so they can pay to throw it away." St. Francis: " Yes sir, that's what they do." 2. St. Francis: " Well, not exactly. Then they drag out their hoses and pay more money to water it so they can mow it so they can cut it and bag it and then pay to have it hauled away." God: "What nonsense. Well at least they kept my trees. Trees were one of my best ideas. In spring they provide blossoms and perfume and of course nice shade in summer. In the fall a beautiful display of color before they drop and fall to the ground to form a natural blanket to keep moisture in the soil and protection from the cold winter. In addition to providing nutrients to the soil as they decay. The natural circle of life. What a great plan I created." St. Francis: " Lord, you better sit down. The suburbanites have drawn up a new plan. As soon as the leaves fall, they rake them into large piles and pay for extra bags to have them hauled away. Then after throwing away the leaves, they go out and buy something they call mulch. Then they haul it and spread it around in place of the leaves. " God: " And where do they get this mulch?" St. Francis: " They cut down those nice trees you gave them and grind them up to make the mulch." God: " Enough. I don't want to think about this anymore." St. Catherine, what movie have you rented for us tonight?" St. Catherine: " Dumb and Dumber . It's a real dumb movie Sir, it' s about . . . . . " God: " For get the movie, I think I just heard the whole story from St. Francis."