I was just out in the yard picking up dead pieces of branches that I cut back a while ago and had yet to take to the compost pile. Along the way I was side tracked by these very tall weeds. Several of them had grown so much that they came up to my belly (which is sticking out beautifully at this point!). I bent down to the root to pull them up and found that these big, attention getting weeds pulled up easily - roots and all. Then I thought of the day before when I was pulling up some other weeds that grow very close to the ground, and don't attract a whole lot of attention until you try to pull them up. Through battling these weeds I've found that even with the tightest grip at their base I can wind up pulling off just the tops and leave the roots firmly in the ground. Out comes the hand rake - now I'll get up the little buggers! So I go for it - digging for the roots. What I find is disturbing - the roots are thin closer to the part of the weed that grows on top of the ground, but as I dig deeper, I find a larger, bulb-like root that is much more difficult to remove. If that part stays in the ground, more weeds will appear -just give it time to grow. Not to mention that these weeds don't need optimum soil to grow in - they'll even take up residence in good ole Florida sand (you know, the grey and black grainy stuff that nothing you want to grow actually grows in - not to be confused with the whitish, clean sand at our lovely beaches...which soon might be polluted by oil...but I'll save that for another blog). So back to the roots I go, digging, pulling, and voila! I pull up that root only to find that it's connected to another weed a foot away...the roots are connected and this weed system has infiltrated my flower bed...um, rather weed bed...(which at the current moment is a blank canvas waiting for some new Florida native plants and flowers - yay!) In order to eliminate these weeds, I have to get the whole root system; if not, it will appear that they're all gone for some time until - POP - up comes another one.
So, do I really care that much about weeds or is there something else of which these weeds remind me? Why yes, in fact, these ordinary weeds remind me of my life. Those tall, flashy weeds are the places of sin and brokenness in my life that are easy to spot, look impressive in an ugly sort of way, and can attract lots of attention. But these weeds - this sin and brokenness - is easy to eradicate through confession, repentance and healing because the roots come up easily. They seem like big issues, but in actuality, they can distract me from the deeper, more serious issues - like the weeds whose roots are connected in an underground system. These places of sin and brokenness - my continual independence and rebellion against my Maker, the mistrust in the goodness of His heart, the selfishness that is so easy to mask with other labels, pride and self-righteousness (just to name a few) - are much more difficult to eradicate completely. Somedays it's as if the weeds are gone (okay, not completely, but at moments the garden of my heart is looking spring-like), but the reality is that although some of the weeds have been pulled up completely, there are still strongholds of roots that permeate my heart's garden. Like the old Caedmon's Call song says, "the same old struggles that plagued me then are plaguing me still." Yes, indeed, some of those age-old struggles of being a human, and those sinful ways of relating to God, myself, others, and the rest of His creation that are particular to me are plaguing me still. And I don't want to settle for a garden or flowerbed that merely looks weedless, I want the Holy Spirit to continually move aside the brush and stir up the soil to expose the weeds and roots that plague me still.
So, come Loving Gardener and prune away all that does not bring life. Come True Vine and let me find life only in You. Come Holy Spirit pour out Your life-giving water on my thirsty soul. Amen.
