Hi all,
We have a massive weed in our garden, just hidden from sight behind a pretty countoured bush so we can't see it from the house. It is nasty - huge thorny prickles on each broad leaf, taller than my five-year-old, almost as tall as an adult. We have tried ignoring it, it just keeps getting bigger. We sprayed and removed a smaller one a few feet closer to the house. There are several more near the fence, but none so tall and nasty as that one. It has to be dealt with!
There are several lesson here: if we try to ignore the things that make us prickly towards others, they just get worse. They need to be pulled out by the roots. Also, it can be painful to get anywhere near the issue.
Our own self-talk will determine how we talk to and about others - remember "love your neighbour as you love yourself"? It happens! If we call ourselves names, this will spill over into calling others those same names. If we believe we are worthless unless we get things perfect, we will project that belief onto everyone we have to work alongside. There is such truth in the verse which says "As you judge, so you will be judged". So, the issue is: how do we get to the root? How do we deal with the underlying issues? Especially with all that pricklyness (read hypersensitivity) around.
Well, I have seen that the systemic spray can take out such a weed. It needs to be applied thoroughly, left to do it's work for a little while (two weeks for Roundup), and then once the leaves look brown and dead, it will be much easier to remove. What will work with the weeds in our own lives? Our nasty self-talk just gets worse if we don't recognise and pull it out before it gets big. This brings to mind another verse - "Do not let a root of bitterness grow up among you". Do not let it! What if that root has snuck into a corner where you couldn't see it and has flourished before you dealt with it? If it has already grown up? And is spreading?
We could try triple-gloving, putting on a flak jacket and somehow get close enough for a grip around the base (without poking out an eye or gouging an arm), but then what? Our own strength is nothing compared to the hugeness of that root. It would snap and stay in the ground rather than be yanked out by us. No, our own strength is useless. We need that systemic spray. The one which works on the whole plant as one, getting into the circulation and spreading to every part so the whole thing is dealt with. This problem is bigger than we can deal with on our own. We need help. We need God. We need advice from others who have dealt with this problem before.
Maybe that weed is there for this very reason - to give me a physical picture of the spiritual reality so I can think through how to face the prospect of dealing with some prickly issues in my life.
I am definitely not a fan of spraying toxins into our ground, and know that Roundup can cause some nasty reactions in some people. But hey, it is better to apply it wisely and get rid of the nasty weed (which won't be removed any other way), than to have that weed take over our little patch of paradice.
Comments, please?
Chrissy
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