Weeding Bad Habits

I spend a little time every day that it doesn’t rain in the garden, right now I spend that time weeding and mulching, weeding mostly.  It’s par for the course in every gardener’s life I imagine.  This time spent in the garden is a sacred part of my day – sometimes I spend it with Jeff and we talk and laugh; sometimes I spend it with our cats playing with them as they swat at bugs and chase weeds thrown in the bucket; and sometimes I spend that time in conversation with the plants and God.  I feel closer to God in a garden than anywhere else on earth and I know that God speaks to me there too.

My garden will never be perfectly weed free, I don’t have the time or energy to make it so.  I weed only enough to keep them from taking hold and choking the life out of the things I do want to grow.  However; the satisfaction I get when I am able to pull the entire tap root out of stubborn weed shouldn’t be underestimated.  I enjoy knowing that that particular plant won’t be back to bother me, oh I know, he has kin waiting to pop up but I’ll be satisfied in removing them as I can and be ecstatic over his complete demise.  

This weekend as I was pulling weeds and hearing the roots tear as they give up their hold on the soil, I couldn’t help but see it all as a metaphor for my life.  The weeds being the bad habits in the soil of my soul / life.  I’m not perfect and I can’t imagine I’ll ever be completely without bad habits.  I do, however; try to keep those bad habits in check so that they don’t choke out the person I strive to be in my dreams.  Like pulling weeds, sometimes but rarely, I am able to rid myself of the entire tap root of a bad habit, but most of the time, I’m just pulling enough out to stunt its growth so that the good habits have a chance to grow. 

This metaphor hit me fairly hard and reminded me that just as I spend a little time in the garden every day, I need to spend a little time on myself every day.  I want to continue weeding out the bad habits and fertilizing the good ones.  I have a few habits that I’ve been wanting to change – ones that I once had under more control but because of neglect have grown back – and I hope this will be the catalyst I need to get back on track.  A little personal weeding each day, a little pruning, will hopefully allow me to bloom with great beauty and produce much fruit in a little while.