Can You Believe It – Where Did Those Weeds Come From?
Yesterday on my day off I did some amazing internal work. I spent the entire morning on my knees. Now as a minister and actively involved with people that continually need spiritual help, it may sound as if I was praying. Sorry – I wasn’t praying this time. I was picking the winter weed crop from our lawn.
Below that lovely blanket of snow from last winter something was happening – weeds were growing – lots of them. This one variety that has shown its lovely head has a pretty little purple flower. It seems to concentrate heavily in two different sections of the lawn. If it is left on its own it spreads like wild fire and eventually covers the lawn. The idea is to get down and rid the lawn of every vestige of the little creature. So I got down on my knees and began digging each little flower out – one at a time – using a dandelion fork that would take the deep root with one slice into the soil.
After four hours I had enough for a large salad – at least that is what I told my one neighbour who came to ask me what I was doing. Then another neighbour came by to ask me what I was doing – and his dog licked me and then tried to bite my hands as I worked. Then another old friend stopped by to chat a little while I sat on the grass. With his help I caught up on a whole lot of rumours floating around about his family and life status.
Down on your knees is a great place to meet neighbours. It is also a great way to deal with weeds. About 90% are gone as of 12 noon – May 7, 2007. I suspect that another batch will show up after the rain that may come later this week. Weeds are like that – once they are there – they just keep coming.
Pause…
I have been working on another model of emotional stuff in my own life. As I shared the concept with many of you of the “Emotional Jug” – many have identified with it as well. Inside the top of the Emotional Jug is the Mad, Sad and Scared Feelings – that we all experience. Some of us however keep the Mad, Sad and Scared Stuff bottled up – never allowing the rest of what should be in us to come out. The rest is the Relief, Ease, Happiness, Pleasure, Desire, Love…all the good things that we should be experiencing.
As I worked on my knees yesterday I came to know the name of the little purple flowers – they are really, “Mad”, “Sad” and “Scared” Flowers. If given an opportunity to keep growing they choke out all the good stuff in our lawn and we end up with a huge amount of ugly grass – or ugly yard. With the effort of yesterday morning I dug away the Mad, Sad and Scared weeds. Now it is 90% clear.
Last evening Alida and I sat with a friend over a good cup of coffee that lasted for over two hours. Our friend shared how she has been working on some difficult areas of her life by digging deeply at the roots of things that have taken her close to destruction. She has lost much – but she is now free. She described how she was dealing with issues of the past and how things are surfacing that are very hard to deal with – BUT SHE IS DOING IT! She is digging out her little purple flowers too.
As we left the coffee time together I was deeply moved to have been a small part of the transformation in her life over the past years. I thought if she can do it – so can I… so can some others that need to dig deeply.
Today – if you are brave enough to get down on your knees and start digging at the roots – you may well get up after a few hours and will have accomplished much.
Have a great day digging.
~ Pastor Murray Lincoln ~
Below that lovely blanket of snow from last winter something was happening – weeds were growing – lots of them. This one variety that has shown its lovely head has a pretty little purple flower. It seems to concentrate heavily in two different sections of the lawn. If it is left on its own it spreads like wild fire and eventually covers the lawn. The idea is to get down and rid the lawn of every vestige of the little creature. So I got down on my knees and began digging each little flower out – one at a time – using a dandelion fork that would take the deep root with one slice into the soil.
After four hours I had enough for a large salad – at least that is what I told my one neighbour who came to ask me what I was doing. Then another neighbour came by to ask me what I was doing – and his dog licked me and then tried to bite my hands as I worked. Then another old friend stopped by to chat a little while I sat on the grass. With his help I caught up on a whole lot of rumours floating around about his family and life status.
Down on your knees is a great place to meet neighbours. It is also a great way to deal with weeds. About 90% are gone as of 12 noon – May 7, 2007. I suspect that another batch will show up after the rain that may come later this week. Weeds are like that – once they are there – they just keep coming.
Pause…
I have been working on another model of emotional stuff in my own life. As I shared the concept with many of you of the “Emotional Jug” – many have identified with it as well. Inside the top of the Emotional Jug is the Mad, Sad and Scared Feelings – that we all experience. Some of us however keep the Mad, Sad and Scared Stuff bottled up – never allowing the rest of what should be in us to come out. The rest is the Relief, Ease, Happiness, Pleasure, Desire, Love…all the good things that we should be experiencing.
As I worked on my knees yesterday I came to know the name of the little purple flowers – they are really, “Mad”, “Sad” and “Scared” Flowers. If given an opportunity to keep growing they choke out all the good stuff in our lawn and we end up with a huge amount of ugly grass – or ugly yard. With the effort of yesterday morning I dug away the Mad, Sad and Scared weeds. Now it is 90% clear.
Last evening Alida and I sat with a friend over a good cup of coffee that lasted for over two hours. Our friend shared how she has been working on some difficult areas of her life by digging deeply at the roots of things that have taken her close to destruction. She has lost much – but she is now free. She described how she was dealing with issues of the past and how things are surfacing that are very hard to deal with – BUT SHE IS DOING IT! She is digging out her little purple flowers too.
As we left the coffee time together I was deeply moved to have been a small part of the transformation in her life over the past years. I thought if she can do it – so can I… so can some others that need to dig deeply.
Today – if you are brave enough to get down on your knees and start digging at the roots – you may well get up after a few hours and will have accomplished much.
Have a great day digging.
~ Pastor Murray Lincoln ~
posted by Murray Lincoln at
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
1 Comments:
It's funny how weeds can look beautiful at times. They can be so attractive and alluring that we often don't even realize how bad they can be or how much they can take over if left unchecked. We sure need to be discerning and diligent in removing them from our lives. Just as you have said, we need to make certain that we get right down to the very root to completely eradicate them.
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