Psalms 37:1-18 * 37:19-42; Proverbs 21:30-22:6; 1 Timothy 4:1-16; Matthew 12:24-30There is something satisfying about weeding a garden: making it pristine and beautiful, the bare earth between the plants and flowers saved from chocking weeds adds to the beatific scene. Seeing those same plants flourishing because of the effort to uproot unwanted and intruding neighbors provides a real sense of accomplishment as well.
Jesus warns us today that this kind of weeding is not always possible. Jesus is saying that there will always be those who compete with, try to sabotage, those who betray those of us who are making every effort to be the wheat in the kingdom of God and that there is nothing we can do about them except find a way to live with them without damaging the kingdom we are trying to build. This kind of deflates me as I want to pull out those chocking weeds that are in the way of effectuating the kingdom here and now. What today's Gospel reminds me of is that we are called to emulate the kingdom and do our best, and to leave to God the weeding. Turning over to God and trusting in God can be so challenging, but it is what we are reminded of today. I find that sometimes the mantra All will be well, all will be well repeated over and over again and combined with prayer, helps open new horizons of hope and confidence and inspiration and aids in my putting away the urge to yank those darn weeds out.
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Copyright 2008, John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved.
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