Last weekend, I was at my mom’s helping her clean up her flower beds. It is that time of year, you know. Most of her beautiful perennials have already strutted their summer stuff, and now they are mostly brown and droopy. Left on their own, the dry, crunchy leaves and stems would eventually fall to the ground and compost into nothing, leaving the vibrant root structure to bloom again next spring. That’s the way it works in the wild. But in a flower bed, the process becomes a little unsightly. So, now that summer is nearly over, we began the process of cutting out the stuff that looks dead.
There is just one problem when you begin the cutting process before the first frost. It’s not always as obvious which plants should be cut and which to leave. Many of the plants are brown from top to bottom, like the gladiolus and lilies; those definitely have to go. A few of the plants are just coming into their prime and are at their peak, like the chrysanthemums; those definitely stay. Then there are the flowers that have beautiful buds at the top, but the lower leaves and petals are dried up and crunchy. What do we with those?
As I hovered over the plants on my hands and knees, gardeneing scissors poised for cutting, I realized I wanted gardening to be a little neater, a little less subtle. It would be easier just to cut down everything that was starting to turn brown — the garden would look less complicated that way. But cutting down some of these plants that had turned brown and crunchy on the bottom would mean we would miss the opportunity to enjoy the beauty they had left on top. Some of their best blossoms and brightest hues were sitting atop a brown, stubbly stem. Maybe these plants weren’t in their prime, but they still had a little strutting of their own left to do.
Isn’t this just like life? I want my relationships and job and hobbies and spirituality to be easy and straightforward. I want the good parts and the bad parts to all be obvious. And I want beauty to be narrowly defined. But it’s never that simple. In fact, if I try too hard to keep things neat and tidy, I miss out on much of the grace and beauty that Jesus has in store for me.
This weekend, I have been doing a little work around my own gardens — planting some fall flowers, harvesting the last of the tomatoes, trimming back bushes and raking leaves. It’s a little bit of a mess out there. My mulch is too thin, my hostas look burnt out from the sun, and my poor squash just keeps blooming but never produces fruit. But if ever there were a picture of my life right now, it’s those gardens. Though they may look a little rough, there’s a lot of life going on. My Russian sage looks like it has finally taken root; the carrots are poking their heads through the dirt; and the mums are just about to burst into full bloom.
It’s messy, but it’s beautiful.
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I have only two more radiation treatments left! I have tolerated the radiation much better than anyone, especially me, expected. Also, I just had my CA125 tested again, and it’s down a couple more points to 9! This would seem to indicate that right now there is no evidence of cancer. Thanks to God!
Charity, I just found your blog..I’ve spent some time this morning reading through your posts. *so refreshing..HIS spirit is just radiating from you.
Charity
Helpful thoughts, thanks.
In a counselling session two weeks ago, I said i felt truly stripped after a summer of treatment
Counsellor suggested the idea of a cultivated plant. The gardening metaphor developed to include ‘dormant’, which has led to me booking a retreat.
Also, possibly useful article at http://tinyurl.com/4r6myl on the need to recuperate, convalesce, rehabilitate when treatment is done
best wishes
Tim Page
Praising God for your healing. I’m glad to hear the update, girl.
Your squash are doing that too? Hmmmm… it’s a squash rebellion. I mean, who ever heard of a ZUCCHINI PLANT that gave not a single squash to a person. But there it is. Not a single squash all summer.
Your gardening sounds wonderful, even if it is messy. 🙂
WOW…what a wonderful testimony you have shared! I love the analogy and it just means so much for you to share it in the trial you are facing in your life. I am praying for God to continue to heal your body and fill your life with MANY blessings! I am SO happy to hear you are doing so well….thanks for sharing!
Hugs, Michelle
Dear Charity,
When you write, you say so much! It is an encouragement to me to read your blog. I surely can relate to the garden analogy. I have those brown spots in my own life right now also, and need to not chop it all off and miss the blessings yet to come 🙂
I’m so thankful with you for the ease of this radiation and for you CA25 number!
Love & Prayer,
Carol Lenger
good thoughts.
thanks, charity.
I like this gardening illustration, Charity. (I like all gardening illustrations!)
It makes me think if the way we approach body life within the Church. There are those personalities and perspectives that clash and seem to be quite the dry and crunchy parts of God’s garden. We think it’d, frankly, be much easier to trim them all out and keep the garden uniform, neat and tidy.
But then there’d be no variety. No pleasant surprises around the corner. No time-will-tell understanding of how certain plants/people require time and circumstance to grow them to full bloom.
I do believe I am someone else’s dry and crunchy part of the Body, just like someone else might be mine. Better put the garden shears away.