Weeding

flourishing garden courtesy of Deborah Killmer

I retreated in the past few weeks because I was finishing up course work. Then I got overwhelmed with the world and retreated more. All the while I was watching the weeds in my garden grow taller and more abundant. Ignoring them was not making them go away. I tried throwing mulch over them. Because, you know, at least covering them up I don’t have to look at them. But then the roots grow deeper. So, finally, armed for battle I went out to attack the weeds. My only weapon is a simple tool that digs in beside the weed to loosen it so I can pull it up from the root. Sometimes only the stem pulls up and I have to keep digging for the root – otherwise it only grows back. It is tedious, especially when I look over and see how many weeds are left to pull. As early morning shadows retreat and the sun beats down on me, I’m tempted to abandon my effort with every drop of sweat that stings my eyes. My hands hurt. My back aches. Why bother? Because if I don’t persevere in rooting out the weeds, they will choke out the beauty I’m trying to grow. Why not let someone else do the work? Because they are my weeds.

I’ve been noticing the weeds that have taken root in my community. Let me just name some of them – segregation; policies that perpetuate poverty and violence; -isms against race, gender, faith traditions, conservative and liberal. We name these things. We throw mulch over them to make it look prettier. We ignore them. And the roots grow deeper.

It is making me sweat to look into the history of what got us where we are. My back aches over what I did not plant yet I’ve allowed to grow as I sit by in silent privilege because the weeds are not encroaching on me. But they are choking out the beauty of humanity. People are suffering under the weight of silence thrown on them. Freedom allows me the choice to sit comfortably in my own experience. Yet compassion begs me to accept discomfort as I listen and learn about the experience of others – to accept the heat and the ache, to get at the root of our history and clear the soil so the beauty of all can be nourished and grow. 

God saw everything that was created, and indeed, it was very good. Genesis 1:31

In this together…