BULLY CACTUS

I never thought a cactus could be a "bully" but the thought came to my mind recently when one of our barrel cactuses bit the dust (or actually it was rocks). A dear friend, a cactus grower and cactus expert gave us several cacti when we first moved here 22 years ago. She and her husband planted them for us. They grew a lot, the ones that survived. Some didn't make it beyond a few years, but the saguaro and two barrel cactus plants plus a couple of others have been growing all these years.

See the one laying on the ground? The one like it was leaning into it and evidently it put too much pressure on the other one and it fell. I kind of expected the leaning one to fall but I thought maybe the other one would hold it up and keep it from falling. Instead of holding the other one up, it fell. It seems I'm always trying to draw spiritual applications for events like this. The following scripture came to my mind. I looked it up in Bible Gateway.

1 Thessalonians 5:11

New International Version (NIV)

¹¹ Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.

So what is the message? Don't discourage each other. Don't be a bully and push someone down. Of course the cactus didn't do this maliciously. It was just doing what a cactus does. We have a choice. We don't have to drag or knock someone down. We have the choice to help them and build them up. One more reason I'm glad I'm not a cactus. lol

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