Jump directly to the Content
Jump directly to the Content

Sermon Illustrations

Home > Sermon Illustrations

Pothole Becomes Ad-Hoc Community Garden

A pothole in the Rathnelly neighborhood of Toronto went unfixed for so long, it attracted an unexpected form of attention.

Rathnelly resident Bryan Link did a double-take recently, when he looked at the pothole and thought he saw weeds. “What I thought were probably weeds turned out to be tomatoes," said Link to a local radio host. An unidentified resident in the neighborhood with a mischievous streak planted the tomatoes, and now Link has noticed a change on the street.

The pothole-turned-tomato-garden became a focal point for the neighborhood, with residents tending it regularly. Someone even went as far as to erect stakes to keep the plants from falling over.

"Someone probably had the impetus to do it, but I think it's like community property now. We all sort of take care of them," Link said.

"It's sort of, like, become the community garden."

The popularity of this pothole-turned-community-garden exceeded the boundaries of the neighborhood after someone posted a picture on the popular website Reddit.

"There's a nice sink hole at Dupont and Ossington that has been there for a week now, could hold a big plant," offered one commenter.

Still, Link is taking the attention in stride.

"I'm hopeful, too, that getting attention doesn't get this fixed too soon," said Link. "Because I think we're still a couple weeks away from harvest time."

Potential Preaching Angle:

Even in the brokenness of unpleasant circumstances, God can still cause growth and flourishing. If you pursue the health of your community, blessings will boomerang back onto you.

Related Sermon Illustrations

Popeyes’ Meme Kid Signs NIL Deal

Dieunerst Collin is one of the latest collegiate athletes to sign an NIL deal. The 2021 NCAA policy that allows athletes to receive compensation in exchange for sponsors who use their ...

[Read More]

Hall & Oates' Band Origin Tied to Gun Violence

Pop R&B duo Hall & Oates, hitmakers in the late 70s and early 80s, made their unlikely team-up thanks to a series of unfortunate setbacks, one of which involved an incident ...

[Read More]