The Curse of Weeds
Weeding is my most demanding garden chore. It consumes nearly half of my time in spring and early summer. The drudgery of weeding is probably the #1 reason inexperienced gardeners never graduate and become experienced gardeners! Without an ongoing attack on this powerful opponent, my garden beds would be quickly devoured by a horde of ravenous weeds. Genesis explains why weeds are such a robust foe for gardeners:
Cursed is the ground because of you;
through painful toil you will eat of it
all the days of your life.
It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
and you will eat the plants of the field.
By the sweat of your brow
you will eat your food
until you return to the ground. (Gen.3:17-19)
After Adam and Eve’s rebellion, no garden yielded its bounty without painful toil and the sweat of your brow. Thorns and thistles perennially contest our work in the garden.
Weeding is my most demanding garden chore. It consumes nearly half of my time in spring and early summer. The drudgery of weeding is probably the #1 reason inexperienced gardeners never graduate and become experienced gardeners! Without an ongoing attack on this powerful opponent, my garden beds would be quickly devoured by a horde of ravenous weeds. Genesis explains why weeds are such a robust foe for gardeners:
Cursed is the ground because of you;
through painful toil you will eat of it
all the days of your life.
It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
and you will eat the plants of the field.
By the sweat of your brow
you will eat your food
until you return to the ground. (Gen.3:17-19)
After Adam and Eve’s rebellion, no garden yielded its bounty without painful toil and the sweat of your brow. Thorns and thistles perennially contest our work in the garden.
But if weeds are so vigorous, why haven't they covered the planet? Why were there few weeds when the Puritans landed in New England? Why don’t I see more weeds on my hikes in the Black Hills? Michael Pollan explains that weeds: are plants particularly well adapted to man-made places. They don't grow in forests or prairies—in "the wild." Weeds thrive in gardens, meadows, lawns, vacant lots, railroad sidings, hard by dumpsters and in the cracks of sidewalks. They grow where we live, in other words, and hardly anywhere else.
Where mankind rests, weeds rest. But wherever I plunge my spade, weeds rush to challenge my claim. (Where do they come from?!) Like a child who has no interest in a toy until his sibling picks it up, weeds jealously contest my interest in the soil. Weeds are man's, not nature's, curse. When people ask me why I believe the Bible is a revelation from God, one of my answers is: “Weeds.” Weeds confirm the truth of Genesis.
Weeds are part of God’s overall judgment on us rebels. In addition to weeds, life is filled with cancer and canker sores, tornadoes and tomato worms, asps and AIDS, calamity and cavities, aging and arguing, famine and fat, ad infinitum.” Why did God do this? If He had left us in Eden, how would we have recognized our need for Him? A few years ago when a friend of my brother’s was experiencing hard times, he complained: “I thought God wouldn’t give me more than I can handle.” My brother wisely disagreed: “I find that God frequently does give me more than I can handle—that way I am forced to depend on Him.”
The weeds of life will never go away. But the great news is that I don’t have to wage that war on my own. There is a Gardener who has His gloves on and a hoe in His hand, eager to help me attack those weeds! Will you invite Him into your garden?
4 comments:
This is a particularly apt reading for me today. I am facing a very large "weed" in my life, and it is good to remember that I don't have to face it alone. Thank you, Bernie.
This leaves me with so much to think about! I've always thought of weeds as intruders and competitors for the "good stuff"...in my garden, or in my life. Competitors for time and space and energy...pests...but more an inconvenience than a threat. Sometimes weeds are wildflowers in another persons eyes. Witness the delight of a child in a field of dandelions. But of course weeds can be truly toxic!
A friend had two doctor visits after an encounter with poison ivy. And the weeds in Life can be deadly, not simply a distraction. So it calls us to be diligent...and faithful...to the Garden. For ourselves and our loved ones. Snatch those weeds out early. And if we become overwhelmed...and we will...call upon the Master Gardener. I had mentioned earlier...weeding, on my hands and knees, is an attitude of prayer. Thanks, Bernie, for some really excellent wisdom. I'll turn to this again and again.
QUEEN ANNE'S LACE: Weed or Wildflower? Queen Anne's lace hitched a ride into my perennial garden when I transplanted some bulbs from my mother's flower bed. The first two years I was delighted to see them. But they have become an annual menace. For a week now they have been adding a delicate beauty to my beds. After last night's rain, I decided this morning was the time to take action...out they came! Of course there will be plenty again next summer...and I will enjoy them. The weeds in our lives call on us to be discerning and decisive. The task at hand may be unpleasant. I'm loving this weed topic!
It is funny that you mention Queen Anne's Lace. When I was little, my mom would help my sister and I cut bunches of Queen Anne's Lace. Then we would fill up different containers with water and Mom would put different colored food coloring into each container - and in went a few of the Queen Anne's Lace. We'd check on those flowers 50 times a day until finally they would start to turn the color of the food coloring. This "weed" has such wonderful childhood memories for me - thanks for discussing it! I am going to call my Mom tomorrow and thank her for turning a weed in her beautiful garden into a great experience for my sister and I. It never ceases to amaze me how my Mom could turn a simple mundane task into an adventure or turn a weed into a flower.
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