Weeding in God's Garden

By Karen Talcott

I planted Ruella, a purple flowering plant, in my front flowerbed about three years ago. It looked wonderful in the store, and one of the workers told me that the maintenance on it would be minimal. So, with gusto, I planted it all over my front flowerbed. It looked great for the first year or so, and I liked how it was filling in all the empty gaps between the other plants.

Fast forward a couple of years, and I now detest this intrusive flowering plant with a passion only true gardeners know! It spread and it spread, popping up in my grass, in the sidewalk, and all over the flowerbed. It was a pretty purple weed! A gardener's nightmare, and now, especially, mine.

After talking to a landscape expert, I found out that the only way to remove this plant was to dig it out with a shovel. So my husband, the kids, and I set out digging. We worked one Saturday afternoon for hours. Finally, we called it a day. We pulled out huge mounds of it and felt like we had accomplished something.

Yet, this was only the beginning. The bigger problem was that every stick, twig, and root that was left in the soil could regenerate and begin to grow again. And it did!

So it came to be that I had a conversation with God as I sat there sifting through mountains of dirt looking for small pieces of the Ruella.

"God, why am I out here? My back aches, and I am so hot and tired. Can't you help me out in some way?"

There was no answer from God, so I began to mutter under my breath, "I hate you, plant. I hate you and all your roots!"

Taking a moment to wipe away my sweat, I sat back in the dirt. At that moment, the light bulb turned on. I saw God's wonderful creation -- planet Earth -- and it, too, was filled with weeds. But the weeds were not of the plant variety. We humans were the weeds in God's garden.

Many of us have taken for granted the beautiful world that He created in seven glorious days. Our violence, anger, and environmental destruction have taken a toll on His beloved creation. I paused to think, "Does God mutter under His breath as He tries to clean up His garden?" Knowing the answer, I thanked God for this beautiful day and the magnificent world that He so lovingly created.

copied: from Chickensoup.com/newsletter---

http://www.chickensoup.com/newsletter.asp?newsid=article-daily-110608&utm_source=CSS_Email&utm_medium=Bulletin&utm_campaign=daily