While visiting southern Nevada, I noticed the profusion of green, feathery bushes and trees. There didn’t seem to be much else growing, other than tumble weeds that rolled across roads and mounded against fences. What was all that green? Salt cedars.
These trees don’t look anything like the cedars with which I’m familiar – ones that look like lush pines or serve as boundary lines between vineyards.
Appearances can be deceiving. Everything green is not necessarily beneficial.
The salt cedar is an invasive species, brought over from Eurasia and Africa. One tree drinks two hundred gallons of water per day and drops salt around it, killing every native seed and plant that sprouts near it. It is a hardy tree, tolerating drought and flooding. It creates a fire hazard, and when burned, sprouts vigorously, stealing even more territory from native trees, shrubs, and plants. When it grows along a stream or river, it doesn’t prevent, but increases erosion.
Is there anything good about a salt cedar? The wood can be used to make farm equipment, like an old-fashioned plow or tool handle, but not much else. And the tree lives up to one hundred years!
All of which adds reasons why areas that are infested are offering rewards to get rid of these trees and bushes. Imagine the kind of garden you could start with two hundred gallons of water a day!
What lesson did I glean from the salt cedar? Be careful not to sit under or accept teaching that salts the ground of your life. We are each responsible for what we believe. We must stay informed and use our critical thinking skills to discern truth from lies. This is necessary in a church as much as in the public forum, what we read or hear, the organizations we support, what friends we choose. What seems “green” in the moment can kill in the long run.