This Spring, I waited just a tad too long before starting the weeding tasks that are required of anyone claiming to be gardener. The seasonal rains had encouraged the weeds to reach their highest aspirations, so I was pulling out a small, grassy thicket of tall, thick tangles of greenery. Before going full bore on weed-removal, though, I tried to recall where there might also be flowers living in the same patches of overgrown foliage. Where I needed to be careful not to pull out what I had planted previously.
As I worked through this task, I gradually realized that some flowers had somehow survived the winter, and had grown in the same space where weeds were flourishing. As I cleared the ground from unwanted vegetation, bunches of flowers-to-be emerged, little-by-little, from the previous weeds-only ground. There they were, ready and willing to continue their growth into fully formed blossoms. It was as if they had been patiently waiting for the weeds around them to be removed. As though the flowers were content to be living alongside weeds that were taking more than their fair share of sunlight, soil and water.
I may be anthropomorphizing plants—as in “Flowers are people, too!”—or taking Jesus’ example to heart: Learn from the natural world! And because that’s true, then perhaps there’s some kind of life-lesson for any of us who are surrounded by the weediness of our times. Maybe encouragement to be patient until life’s weeds are removed, strength to keep on keeping on, vision for how we, too, can blossom no matter what, or just-plain-garden-variety gratitude to be alive! Whatever the lesson, it comes to my smiling face and weeding spirit.
Keep weeding and keep smiling…!
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