Gophers

Gophers live underground in tunnels.  They pull down anything edible; agricultural crops, backyard vegetable gardens and landscaping.  Gopher mounds pop up frequently on the elementary school lawn across from our church.  One gopher has managed to dig a maze of furrows all through our backyard, though he hasn’t succeeded in getting into our vegetable boxes where I’ve planted bulbs.  We have a thick screen underneath to keep him out.

Gopher holes can destroy a school playfield, a lawn, a golf course. Gophers helped drive the  Russians out of Fort Ross here in California.  Horses cannot gallop over a field pocked by gopher holes without risk of breaking a leg, not to mention eating all the beets that were meant for borst.

The gopher reminds me of other things that pull down what is good under cover of darkness. 

Doubts and fears.  Pride.  Bitterness.  Gossip. Unholy philosophies that deny the existence of God.  Traditions and rules that replace the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the joy of salvation.

Watch out for gophers!