Lent is almost at its end and with that, these weeks of reflecting on Lent as the Church's Springtime. Yesterday the temperature went up into the high 40's and I could feel the strengthening sun. A final thought occurred to me as I ventured out into the garden:
When the snow and ice recede the first thing the gardener sees are the winter weeds. A weed is simply a plant that grows with a will of its own and where the gardener doesn't want it to grow. Winter weeds grow through the winter without the light of day. Some spread far and wide beneath the snow. Some have a deep carrot like tap root. Some are pulled out easily; others are resistant. The gardener might think, "How did you get in here?"
Winter weeds have been named wherever they grow and folks complain about them, names like: Mares Tail, Shepard's Purse, Chickweed, Annual Bluegrass, Penny Cress, Purple Dead Nettle aka Henbit, Ground Ivy aka Creeping Charlie.
When the snow and ice recede the first thing the gardener sees are the winter weeds. A weed is simply a plant that grows with a will of its own and where the gardener doesn't want it to grow. Winter weeds grow through the winter without the light of day. Some spread far and wide beneath the snow. Some have a deep carrot like tap root. Some are pulled out easily; others are resistant. The gardener might think, "How did you get in here?"
Winter weeds have been named wherever they grow and folks complain about them, names like: Mares Tail, Shepard's Purse, Chickweed, Annual Bluegrass, Penny Cress, Purple Dead Nettle aka Henbit, Ground Ivy aka Creeping Charlie.
Resentments are like winter weeds - especially the digging out part. But when the job is done then the garden is free and ready for the show.
Resentments are negative feelings towards other people. Sometimes they just pop up or sneak in. They can send down a tap root deep into heart and mind. They can even spread beyond myself to other people. Resentments (like winter weeds) can even look attractive - flowering and trailing along. And like winter weeds, resentments take up a lot of space and can choke out the beautiful things you really want to see grow and bloom.
These last days of Lent, the Church's Springtime, we can name these weedy resentments for ourselves and get free to meet the Risen One, who Mary Magdalen thought was the gardener.
Again, resentments are any negative feelings I have towards someone. Why bother getting free of them? Because Jesus doesn't allow them to stay in the garden. We're to pray them away. Can it be done? Absolutely, if I desire it.
As the winter weeds all have names, name the people with whom we have resentments. Don't analyze, rehearse or judge them. Write them down, first names only. Then each day between now and Easter, pray their names and then carefully pray this prayer.
Again, resentments are any negative feelings I have towards someone. Why bother getting free of them? Because Jesus doesn't allow them to stay in the garden. We're to pray them away. Can it be done? Absolutely, if I desire it.
As the winter weeds all have names, name the people with whom we have resentments. Don't analyze, rehearse or judge them. Write them down, first names only. Then each day between now and Easter, pray their names and then carefully pray this prayer.
Lord as you know, I have resentments with all of these people, and even if I don't feel it right now, I ask you to remove them; take my stony, cold, hard heart, and make it into a heart of mercy, compassion and love. Amen!
Notice the only person I'm asking God to change is myself. Happy gardening!
Notice the only person I'm asking God to change is myself. Happy gardening!
