A GARDEN AS DEPICTION OF LIFE AND OURSELVES

I have been out in my garden this morning enjoying the time as I clean up some messes. Weeds just never give up. I've been out here less often this year and the ability to get caught behind the curve has become very obvious. It becomes very apparent that weeds tend to have more power in this natural realm than do the plants you long to see thrive. So the need to weed on a regular basis never goes away. I wouldn't exactly call all of this fun but it is certainly necessary. Coming to understand the necessity of it makes it a daily part of life that I can find enjoyment in. It makes way for beautiful things to happen. But don't be fooled by a beautiful garden.......there is none that is ever perfect. None! Our late spring freeze has made that painfully obvious this year. We live in a hostile, harsh environment.

Compared to our lives, personal and relational, this is a perfect reflection of the what we experience. But we do have choices.

Does it seem to you that the weeds of life have more power over you than does the freedom promised us in the gospel of the kingdom of God? The dream of God for his creation. Have you ever spent any time thinking about that and why it seems we spend most of our lives in a struggle that produces; frustration, angst, anger, depression, anxiety, fear, control, manipulation and so on?

Maybe our focus is off, which then causes us to live in the unreality that this world tells us is 'The reality'? We fight and struggle to make it right and there is no right to be found there. The only place that rest from it all exists is in the heart of God, entering into the relationship we've been invited into with Father Son and Spirit. It doesn't remove or deliver us from the chaos of this world that we find ourselves, but it can transform us so that we have eyes to see again and ears to hear. What the created is in need of is reconciliation back to what the creator intended. Full dependence back to where it belongs. Jesus did nothing except that which he saw his father doing. Do we even spend much time thinking of this? I think the fact that we don't, we end up being very much a part of 'why' the weeds are growing in our lives? Our garden ends up being more of a mess than is necessary. A re-turning seems to be in order if the yoke has become difficult to carry and the burden of life is weighting us down.

But how does this happen?

I will end this with a beautiful picture from The Shack. Meditate on this for awhile.

"It was chaos in color. His eyes tried unsuccessfully to find some order in this blatant disregard for certainty. Dazzling sprays of flowers were blasted through the patches of randomly planted vegetables and herbs, vegetation the likes of which Mack had never seen. It was confusing, stunning, and incredibly beautiful."

and then this, after some important time with Sarayu. ( for those who have not read the book, Sarayu is the name given in the book for the holy spirit. It means 'like the wind'.)

"His gaze moved over the garden that surrounded them. "But it really is beautiful, and full of you, Sarayu. Even though it seems like lots of work still needs done, I feel strangely at home and comfortable here."The two looked at each other and grinned.Sarayu stepped toward him until she had invaded his personal space. "And well you should, Mackenzie, because this garden is your soul. This mess is you! Together, you and I, we have been working with a purpose in your heart. And it is wild and beautiful and perfectly in process. To you it seems like a mess, but to me, I see a perfect pattern emerging and growing and alive---a living fractal."