Life Lessons From My Garden

One of the things I appreciate most about living here on my own country mile is having a garden.  Our sandy soil (much more sand than soil) made that seem impossible at first until "the Squire" built me raised garden beds which he obligingly filled with rich topsoil.  Now I can grow whatever I want to my heart's content.

Each time I undertake to weed my garden, as I did this past weekend, I find myself thinking of analogies to life.  Some weeds are obviously that: weeds, undesirable, in need of removal for the good of my garden.  Others are questionable: is this a weed or perhaps something I planted, maybe some dill that reseeded itself from last year's garden? or perhaps a tiny tomato plant also reseeded from last year's tomatoes?  Sometimes I'm not sure and I choose to leave it grow for a while until I can see better what it is.

Sometimes weeds are sneaky, growing so close to a desirable plant, that they seem to grow out of the same hole in the soil as the bean, pea, or cucumber plant I'm trying to cultivate.  Then I need to decide if I will risk uprooting my vegetable plant to get rid of the weed.   Other weeds hide under the leaves of my vegetables and I don't see them until they are so big that again, I risk damaging my vegetables to uproot them.  The sneakiest of all are the ones that look very much like my vegetables.  I found a climbing vine-like weed that fit right in with my pole beans; it even had similar leaves in a similar shade of green.

Jesus, when he was on earth, often used agricultural metaphors to describe truths we would need in life.

Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.
But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.
So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares?
He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?
But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.
Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.

(Matthew 13:24-30)
Sometimes we have the same dilemma in our gardens -or in our lives- we have to let the weeds (evil or sin) exist because we would do harm to goodness by uprooting it.  And sometimes, like the weeds in my garden, we're not sure which is which because the evil might masquerade as good, or hide behind the truth.  That's not to say we should become complacent; as soon as we can we will uproot the evil, just like in my garden where, as soon as I know for sure what's a weed and what's not, and what's safe to pull without harming the vegetables, I will get rid of every single one.

And that's what the Holy Spirit plants in my brain every time I weed my garden.  Who knew weeding could be so spiritually uplifting?