Round and Round the Garden

    “Should we pull out the weeds?” they asked. “No,” he (the farmer) replied, “you’ll uproot the wheat if you do. Let both grow together until the harvest.” Mathew 13:28-30

  At this point, the weeds would be separated and burned.

  When I raised veggies, weeding among the seedlings was a cautious, careful exercise. It was okay if some of the young shoots got uprooted because it was prudent to plant more seeds than there was space for, in case some were duds. It was even necessary to pull out some of the young vegetables as the plants got bigger. They needed room to grow.

  I’ve also ended up with having a veggie garden become weed choked. Lack of time, being away, and summer’s heat often meant garden tending was at the bottom of the to-do list. I would try and get the weeds out before they went to seed or when my backyard bonfire was going anyways. The unwanted plants could be tossed on the fire a few at a time as I picked away at tidying things up.

  Either way, after weeding always came watering. It would settle the soil around the plants left in the garden. It would help them deal with the shock of having been disturbed. It would also replace the water the weeds had stolen.

  My own veggie patch was on sandy soil where the biggest challenge was making sure it had enough water. I’ve had to tend vegetables that were in a clay rich soil. The sun would bake it into the consistency of ceramic pottery. Getting the weed roots out was nearly impossible so I often had to content myself with consistently chopping the weeds off at the base knowing the roots would end up dying without leaves to feed them. Except dandelions and thistles. Nothing kills them.

  I’ve taken this passage quite literally but it has brought up a question. Did the farmer not trust his workers to be careful to only remove the young weeds?

  Planks and eyes. How does that go? Before removing the speck from your neighbour’s eye, remove the plank from your own. Mathew 7:5

   Lord, what’s the connection?

 

  Sometimes I look at someone else’s garden and see only weeds. Yet, I’ve let large, thick stemmed weeds grow to be supports for climbing pea vines.

  Hmmm…there’s two ways to approach this. 

          1.Weeds are necessary for growth. 

          2.Weeds can interfere with growth.

  (Smile.) 

  So let it go and trust in God that He knows which is which! Because I don't have to. 

  I can be a worker who has been relieved of an arduous, back breaking task. If only I can learn not to pick up shovel, a hoe or a rake; the tools of judgement. AMEN!