Emotional Gardening

The deeper the root, the more work that goes into extracting it.  Now granted, you don’t have to extract it entirely.  But just like in gardening, the most efficient removal is to take the time and effort to dig out the root in its entirety.  You could take a mower to your heart and just trim it all back so it looks presentable.  But, similar to when a stubborn weed breaks off in the soil, getting down to the root is often a messy and sometimes painful process.

As tempting as it may be to spray weed killer on the whole yard or cover everything in rock to keep the weeds out, we can’t afford to do that with our hearts.  Weeds can spring up even on top of landscaping cloth; but, more importantly, healthy grass cannot grow without properly tended soil.  And sometimes the struggle is in the soil itself; it can feel impossible to remove a weed that needs to be dug out of hardened ground.  I believe there can be seasons also - just as the ground is frozen in the winter, our hearts can be more or less receptive to weeding in different seasons.

The easiest correlation may be in gardening maintenance.  If you are setting aside time to weed and prune and nurture, there will be less major reclamation projects.  But if you leave it unattended, even the smallest of issues can become deep-rooted; and then you are faced with upheaval and breaking up soil in order to completely remove the weed.  I encourage you, don’t take the easy way out!  Don’t settle for only removing the visible symptoms of the root issue - dig out the root.  If your heart is hard, soften your heart.  If you are having trouble differentiating between weeds and grass, join an accountability group or open up to a pastor/counselor/therapist.  When it comes to self-monitoring sometimes we have to let the plant bud before we recognize it as undesirable - over time and with practice, you can recognize weeds earlier and remove them before the roots get in so deep.  But it takes time and practice.  Emotional gardening is a maturable skill.

Reading literature can help with identification, but really getting messy and sharing your story and life with others is where we thrive.  Someone smarter than me once said “a smart man learns from his mistakes, but a wise man learns from the mistakes of others”.  Let’s grow together!