Meditations in a Weedy Garden

Meditations in a Weedy Garden

C.S. Lewis wrote an essay Meditation in a Tool Shed, which I highly recommend. C. S. Lewis - Meditation in a Tool Shed. It seems that sometimes it is in the most mundane moments we can have deeply spiritual insights. While I would never consider myself on par with Lewis I had a moment of spiritual insight while in the midst of a very mundane chore, weeding the garden.

Over the last few weeks, I have been very busy and have not had time to tend to my garden. If weeds are like sins in the soul my garden was totally depraved. It was a difficult, hot, painful and time consuming task to remove the weeds and reclaim the garden. But as I fought the weeds I began to reflect how sin in our lives is very much like weeds in a garden. Let me share my thoughts and offer what I hope will be helpful advice.

Reflection #1 A little inattention and you will be overrun. I had not neglected the garden for very long. In fact, just a few days before I entered the busyness of the last few weeks I have gone over the garden with tiller and by hand. While not perfect the garden was in good shape. But after time not being in the garden at all, the weeds, mostly crabgrass, ragweed and stinging nettle, had reached into every corner.

If the price of liberty is eternal vigilance the demand of holiness is constant faithful attention to our souls. Daily scripture reading, meditation on the word of God, prayer, and contemplation of the life, teaching, and sacrifice of Christ are not optional if we want to keep sin from taking over. These disciplines are not the goal of life and do not earn us righteousness; rather, they help us see problems in our heart sooner rather than later. In my life, I have discovered that before major struggles with sin I have neglected these practices.

Refection #2 Removing one weed reveals a host of smaller ones hiding in its cover. When I would pull one of the taller weeds it would not mean that area was clear. Rather, it would reveal all the other and smaller weeds growing in the cover of the tall weed. Thankfully, pulling the tall weed made it easier to see all the smaller weeds.

Dealing with the obvious sins in our life helps us become aware of so much other stuff that needs to be addressed. I recall a conversation with a friend who was actively in the practice of sin, or I should say sins. One was most obvious, but when I asked him about his spiritual condition he was convinced that he was just fine and, “On a scale of 1 to 10 spiritually I am about a 9”. When we earnestly begin to deal with the major sin in our lives we soon realize it is not our only problem. This may be why those folks who are most holy are the ones most aware of their own sinfulness.

Reflection #3 In the desperately dry ground the weeds are easiest to pull. During the time I was gone we had almost no rain. June can be brutally hot in lower Alabama and without rain the ground dries out pretty deeply. While hard on my garden plants it had an advantage. (By the way when stinging nettle wilts it is really dry) The dry ground didn’t give the weeds much to hold onto when I would pull them. Many, especially the ragweed, came out without too much resistance.

When we have a sin issue in our lives or if there is a spiritual problem it is easy for us to think we need to wait for a time of spiritual refreshing to deal with it. We believe that in a rush of spiritual richness or emotional high we will be better ready to deal with things. But good times might as easily empower the darkness of our soul to hold on more stubbornly. We mustn’t wait for a moment of a spiritual high to deal with sin. In fact, the hoped for spiritual renewal will likely come after determined faithful obedience even if it is in a very dry moment.

Reflection #4 Some weeds are much easier to pull than others. Of the three main invaders of my garden, stinging nettle, crabgrass and ragweed the ragweed was by far the easiest to pull up and nettle the hardest. Not only did the nettle have deeper and more extensive roots it had stingers everywhere. Some of the spines would penetrate my leather gloves when I had to grip it tightly. I could have pulled only on the easy to remove weeds, but that would have left the garden untenable.

Not every sin is easily overcome. I have known people who have overcome a vice or sin with what appears little effort or struggle. These same people have other issues that linger on for their whole life. Why can a person in an instant give up a promiscuous life, but struggles relentlessly with some other vice? Sometimes the weed breaks off and leaves the root behind, and that weed will come back. The battle against some sin will be lifelong fights. You see we are unique and we all have that issue which is our cross, our battle, to fight for the Lord.

Reflection #5 Removal of very stubborn weeds is the most satisfying. I must admit I hate stinging nettle more than any other weed. In fact, if I am going to confess honestly, I may have talked a little trash to some of the more problematic nettles. After pulling up the largest nettle I may have said something to the effect of “Yea, how you like that, you ain't nothin. You're going to lay out here in the sun and suffer, you punk, I hope you think about what you did while you die.” When you are talking trash to a weed you may have been out in the sun too long. It does illustrate the point that there is satisfaction in removal of a difficult weed.

Victory over difficult vice and sin is very rewarding. We do so with humility, understanding that this happened only in cooperation with God and by His grace. All the same, it is appropriate to enjoy the life of virtue that is ours in Christ, especially after a long battle.

Reflection #6 Sometimes there is no way to remove the deeply embedded weeds. My bean patch was so overwhelmed by the weeds, especially crabgrass, that there was no way to remove it. If I pulled it up it would have pulled up the beans by the roots. The weeds were so tall and in some places they hid the beans entirely. After a careful picking of the beans there was nothing left to do but to give up on that patch of ground. I cut it with the bush hog to about 5 inches and then sprayed it with weed killer. In a few weeks, I will till it under and get that plot ready for a fall garden. Between the cutting, weed killer and tilling, this plot will be more weed free for collards, turnips, and cabbage to come.

God is long suffering with us, but not infinitely so. I have known people who have treated God’s grace as an endless resource to be exploited. They have moved into darkness and then into deeper darkness and in that state have actually entered into eternity. We need to take seriously the warning of Hebrews 10:26-27:

For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries.

In the last few days we have enjoyed fresh green beans and a few new potatoes, and they are so good. It is worth the effort to fight the weeds in the garden. So, it is worth the battle, in cooperation with God, to see sin removed from our lives.

I wonder what reflections I would have if I got a milk cow? That might be interesting.