Persicaria is a strange family. No, I’m not talking about Joe and Ellen Persicaria, not that I know anyone by that name, believable as it sounds. Persicaria refers to a wide family of plants.

The first persicaria that was introduced into my garden was a “Red Dragon.” Or so I thought. It turns out that Persicaria is a very large and diverse group of plants. I had been quite familiar for some time with the weedy type that produces little spikes of ball-shaped florets along their flower spikes. In fact, I had often used them in cut flower arrangements. (Yes, some weeds are pretty enough to enjoy indoors, too.) I wonder; should I spell this type of knotweed as “not weed?”

Now I’ve discovered that I also own a giant among the persicaria tribe. A tall, shrub-like plant that I’m using as a border to screen off the view of my neighbors is also a Persicaria. The graceful white fringe-like flowers along the arching branches of “Mexican Bamboo” are related to the little knotweeds that I enjoy with my roses. Who would have guessed?

Members of this strange family also include a number of plain-looking weedy plants that invade the garden during the weeks when I’m not diligent in pulling out unwanted vegetation.

So it is with our Christian family. Some people can trace their “religious DNA” back to some famous preacher or even a historic meeting, and in some respects that is noteworthy. I do not possess such a lineage. I wistfully wonder what it must be like to have had mother, father, aunts and uncles, and grandparents to be spiritual guides and mentors with whom to grow up.

We rightfully treasure family members who are also brothers and sisters in Christ. But what happens to those who live, work and worship among us who have come from the world? Are they spiritual orphans? Does the church treat them as second-class Christians?

What happens when those people become older and cannot put their shoulder to the plow as they once did?

Do we honor those returning from the mission fields and pulpits, broken and battered, as honored veteran soldiers? Or do we see them as useless in their present state because of their lack of family ties?

Another serious issue is how we treat our new “babes in Christ.” What happens when someone comes to the Lord without Christian family members? We want to make sure that these odd new members of our family are not neglected. Take them to your home for Sunday dinner, and ask them to be involved in the church’s work. It’s easy to remember our cousins, brothers, and siblings. The ones that don’t quite look the same might be left out if we aren’t careful. Those oddballs may be like my “Tovara Painter’s Pallette” persicaria; splashed with colors of their past, but still beautiful.

I am a plant addict. I enjoy an occasional pretty “weed,” and I can even appreciate the subtle chevron pattern in a plain Persicaria as I weed it out. It’s nice to know they are in the same plant family as the treasured Red Dragon. But let’s face it; in the end they are just weeds. Even the Red Dragon is a replaceable plant. I know, because last winter was harsh, and I actually did have to replace it!

Let’s not look at our Christian family as replaceable. Treasure each and every member of the Lord’s church as if they were a centerpiece! God does.
“Be devoted to one another in brotherly love” (Romans 12:10 NASB).

Christine (Tina) Berglund