What is small? Children are small. Seeds are small. Moments are small. Yet of these the whole world is composed.
Sarah Clarkson, Reclaiming Quiet
Green is bursting from the earth, triumphant, even between the rocks in our garden pathway, where my husband and I spent time last weekend uprooting weeds. Pulling weeds is the most humble of garden tasks, such detailed and laborious work. The impulse, of course, is to go quickly, grabbing handfuls, ripping at what you can and moving onward. You have to pull the roots, my mother would tell me as a child. Even now, I catch myself. I pause and dig deeper, wiggling between the rocks or the garden border, before I tug. My fingertips often hurt afterward, which I didn’t know was possible. The transformation is immediate and fruitful. Even before a new seed is planted, beauty has been recovered by order.
We are all gardeners whether or not our hands ever touch soil. Christ uses the analogy in the parable of the sower, describing the heart as soil necessary to receive the kingdom.1 And so we must ask ourselves and those around us: how is your soul? Which is to ask: What is the soil of your heart like right now? Soft and nourished? Dry? Rocky? Hard?
We tend our souls with the ideas we dwell upon, the activities we participate in, and the feelings we entertain. This is true of my own soul. This is also true of the souls I help tend in my home and other areas of influence, which is why we must always be listening for weedy ideas seeking to root themselves in our midst.
When I hear one of my children say something untrue about themselves or someone else, no matter how small, it’s imperative to tug at it and not give it place. We sometimes entertain thorny words or desires because they seem harmless or insignificant. Yet weeds grow. They drain the nutrients of our heart-soil. They compete for space, crowding the healthy seed. My child might reply, Mom, I was just joking, or it’s not that big of a deal. I might say the same of my own self-criticism or in the ways I validate a fissure in my heart with that’s just the way I am. Those thoughts aren’t always as vocal, but they impact the garden of my heart just the same.
Our ideas help form the atmosphere of our hearts and homes. Our words build worlds. Our actions speak about love and priority. The little things matter.
Three Ways to Uproot Weeds in the Soul
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