The metaphor of our souls as a garden fits our life hereon the Farm ideally. So, I thought I’d share a meditation on it.
The home we lived in for 17 years in Charlottesville was named Wisteria House: that was because I had planted the vine to grow over the front door and out along the fence in front of the house. It never flowered well, but I enjoyed caring for it anyway.
However, at the Farm in Rochelle, we work very hard to remove all of the Wisteria: they are choking out the Boxwoods that we want: robbing them of light and soil and water. We are losing the battle. Wisteria is a sneaky and determined invasive. But you have to ask: what makes the difference? Why is Wisteria a ‘weed’ in one place and not at the other?
Well, it is because of the will and the plan of the gardener. That’s the difference. And this is true of our souls also.
Classic studies in Christian spirituality describe three stages of growth in life in God. The first is the Purgative Way, and it is a time of “putting on and putting off.” We sow seeds that lead to faith and hope, and we weed-out things that distract and enslave and are not according to the will and plan of the Gardener.
But then, in the struggle that ensues, we realize that there are two wills and two plans going on. There is our plan: how we think our life should go. But there is also the Creator’s will for us. These two gardeners do not always identify the weeds identically. We need wisdom from above, to learn the will of the Divine Gardener – whom it is very reasonable to realize sees better than we do and has the more healthy, lasting set of goals.
And then, we discover another complication, not only are there two separate wills: we also are not the only ones planting weeds in our life. We discover that things that are not true and are not healthy have been given to us by others. These false attitudes contrary to the will and plan of our Master Gardener, have to be weeded as well. And this can be a difficult process. We have grown so use to their presence in the garden that we don’t clearly see how they stunt our growth and productivity.
In James 3, the wisdom from above is contrasted with the wisdom of our current world. And it gives a list of beautiful attributes of the wisdom coming down from God before it gives three aspects of the world’s type of wisdom. These three are – earthly, unspiritual, and demonic. What are these?
I can’t claim to know all of this, but it is worth considering: and this is what I have come up with. By “earthly”, it means according to the common sense of this world. That is, for example according to the principles of psychology and sociology and economics. Now I appreciate all three of these disciplines and have good friends teaching each. But even they would have to agree that the values and perspective of the Kingdom of God diverge from them deeply and inconveniently.
And what is “unspiritual”? Among other things, this means living as if what we see is all that there is. Again, not according to the Kingdom of Heaven which Jesus taught His disciples to seek first. The Creed teaches that God made “all things, visible and invisible.”
The third aspect of worldly wisdom is quite often not considered by people. The notion of “demonic” brings all sorts of primitive associations that we are glad to have outgrown. And yet, Apostolic spirituality is adamant: there are not just two wills and plans for the garden of our soul. There is a personal adversary who wishes to frustrate and harm the divine plan – distracting us and impoverishing us with Wisteria where no Wisteria are to be.
Okay, there are a lot of factors and players at work – but how is weeding done? Whose responsibility is it?
When we read the Scriptures we find that the Apostles dwell on God’s grace and power and kindness and Spirit within us. But then, often in the same paragraph, they will encourage us to striving effort – like soldiers, or athletes, or farmers.
In my experience, I find it is both these things.; and I also find that when people or churches insist on one and neglect the other bad things occur. Soldiers obey orders, even when it is difficult to see the wisdom of the orders in the moment. Athletes work hard, practicing in the daily grind, so that they have the skills and muscle-memory for when the contest is upon them. And farmers – well, farmers work hard, but they have to be patient, and they have to be radically dependent upon powers over which they have no control.
Weeding can be painful; but it is the path to joy, freedom, and productivity of what God means for us to produce.
