Some vegetables are prejudiced.

Unfortunately it’s true. Tomatoes for example, don’t want cabbage in their neighborhood. If you plant the two nearby each other, tomatoes will actually emit a chemical that inhibits cabbage growth. This bias is a gardening mystery, because the two don’t crowd each other’s roots or tangle up in each other’s foliage.

The unfortunate result is that the tomato misses out on being the garden hero. It is actually equipped with the ability to fend off the monster of all cabbage pests: the diamondback moth larvae. The tomato’s potent smell is able to create a barrier of insect protection around cabbage. Perhaps the world is left with less vitamin K and its power to help with brain function, less vitamin C, and its protection against cancers and vision loss, and less fiber and its ability to help with digestion than it would be otherwise.

What great good the tomato could do if only it would stand for being a hospitable neighbor!

God, like a great gardener, knows the value of pairing differences. Merging perspectives, abilities, and knowledge creates more whole ideas, more tested plans, and better solutions. Teamwork in God’s garden improves our world, and the sweet aroma of being a hospitable neighbor draws outsiders in.