God the Farmer

Are you wheat? Or are you a weed? How do you know? Do you hang around with other wheat or other weeds? What's the difference between a weed and a wildflower? Aren't they the same things?

In my part of the world chickory is growing alongside the roads. Such beauty. Wildflower? Weed? I say wildflower-weed because it is not only possible, but most probable, for the two to co-exist.

I'm wheat as well as weed. I have my multigrain moments on good days while on other days I'm sure my dear ones have wished to spray me with Weed-B-Gon. In this weekend's gospel Jesus reminds us in parable form that pulling out the weeds while the wheat is young may damage the wheat. So He encourages us to let both grow side-by-side just as He allows both parts of each of us to grow right alongside each other.

Days when we are grumpy or downright mean God does not smite us sending us to a fiery end. No, God the Farmer is patient with His cultivation. He watches over us, He cares for us whether we are weedy or wheaty. We are two sides of the same human coin. How we choose to flip is up to us – not up to God, or to luck or mere chance. We're talking free will here.

You can be the biggest weed the world has ever known. You can ignore your wheat side. It's up to you. Or you can cultivate the good in you. Only you can truly recognize the weeds as they surface, and only you can carefully separate weed from wheat. No one can do it for you. God won't do it for you. But He will be watching every moment. And He will freely give you all the tools you will need. He'll give you pointers along the way. So read His signs. Use His tools. Be His wheat. And watch your garden grow.
~ Maureen :)

Can you look square in the eye of God?

I am struck by this weekend's gospel as I sit amongst the flowers and weeds in my gardens. I haven't weeded for two weeks. Amazing how quickly weeds sneak in, isn't it?

Still, most of these weeds are small except for this one insidious type – fast growing with deep roots. A little effort and even those are history – dead.

I wanted this day, alone outside in my gardens. I had an extremely tempting invitation to breakfast from one of my sons. I declined, to weed. Crazy? As his truck pulled away I wondered. But no, not crazy. Just what I need. Just what God needs to work through me.

I crave quiet and solitude. Living in a house with five men is noisy. And when it's noisy it's harder to hear God.

So here I am taking a break from kneeling in the dirt, soaking in a little sun and enjoying a gentle breeze. And being open to hear God speak to me.

I have one weed right next to a hostas. This weed resembles the hostas so closely. Sneaky. How did it get there? Did this weed, in seed form, walk around looking for a compatible friend? Something it could fool into believing it was a fellow hostas? Hardly. But how did it get there? How did it know? One of life's mysteries. This wannabe hostas didn't fool me though. I saw it for what it was: a fake, a phony. I yanked it.

And that is how we must look at all circumstances in our lives. Will this get me closer to God? Or will it not? If you are willing to ask yourself that question and answer it honestly, God's Word has fallen on fertile soil and will flourish reaching out to others of God's children helping them on their journeys.

Once you accept God's Word you must be ever vigilant. You must nourish His Word. Attend Mass. Study the Word. Try hard to understand its meaning in your life, not necessarily what it meant to Abraham or Moses but to you, right now in your present situation. It will speak to you if you will listen.

Next, you must weed out whatever does not belong in God's fertile soil. Because, let's face it, fertile soil is fertile soil. It will make the weeds grow just as well as the flowers. When weeds in your life walk up to you, look you in the eye and wish to be near you, you must turn away. No matter how tempting it is. Remember the apple! A teeny apple and look at the ramifications for us all. So weed daily, hourly if need be. Weed. Keep your soul's soil fertile.

And finally, as difficult as it may be, you must prune away parts of yourself that have become unpleasing to God. Perhaps your job just isn't for you. Perhaps the stress level is so high it is steering you away from God. Pruning is choosing. Choose wisely. You may not get a do-over. Adam and Eve didn't.

Well, back to my gardens. Back to my life – feeding, weeding and pruning – so one day when this life is over I can look square in the the eye of God and not blink, not even once.
~ Maureen :)