Water, Weeds and Pest Control

I have just been out tending to the sack gardens we created during our Grow Day a couple of months ago.  Unfortunately, due to a lack of consistent watering, the top parts of the sack are rock solid – so solid that watering them right now just sees the water run right off them.  The plants at the top have mostly died and were replaced with weeds fixed firmly into the hard soil. Still, despite hot days, violent winds, and cold mornings, they are still standing and there is food to pick!

As I watered and loosened the soil, pried the weeds out, planted new seedlings, and laid mulch to keep it moist and suppress weeds, I reflected on how this is like our spiritual well-being. The less we care for ourselves, or fill ourselves with healthy things, the drier we get and the harder it actually becomes for good things to penetrate the soil of our minds and our hearts.

In fact, regardless of what the weather is around us, what matters more is how we care for ourselves before, during and after the weather we experience.   This means constant watering – filling ourselves with God centered activities and healthy relationships - which also helps suppress the toxic weeds in our lives. It means being intentional about dealing with the weeds that make it through.  It means protecting ourselves from the weather that comes – either by not putting ourselves in places of temptation, or by actively seeking support from others, or by refraining from some activities, removing the things that don’t produce fruit and replacing them with those that do.

How would you describe the garden of your life right now?

Adam