In the Hands of the Gardener
Yesterday, I found myself pruning a rose bush that had overgrown the walkway on my porch. It was dense, thorny, unloved. Though not an expert in horticulture, I recalled tips from somewhere to plan my course of action.
A rose bush enjoys and responds positively to a good pruning. A friend told me once of trying to kill off a rose bush because she didn't want one in the yard while her kids were small. To her surprise, the severe pruning resulted in a plant that bloomed beautifully and more magnificently each year.
As I was in the process, I realized that a good pruning takes away stems that grow in multiple directions. The gardener wants only branches that support the upward growth. This sometimes means removing the low-hanging stalks that split or point downward. Those obviously need to be clipped. Suddenly, I realized my actions actually freed the plant to develop in only the intended direction. Cutting off the extra stems forces the plant to stop wasting time, energy, and resources for growth in the wrong direction. The wise owner chooses what's best for the plant and the plant responds in the only way it can – by continuing to grow what's left.
Do I want to be dense, thorny, unloved or am I willing to let God hold the pruning shears and remove the branches in my life that take up time, energy, and resources which lead me contrary to the form my gardener desires...
Perhaps for the first time, I sincerely answer, "Yes."
A rose bush enjoys and responds positively to a good pruning. A friend told me once of trying to kill off a rose bush because she didn't want one in the yard while her kids were small. To her surprise, the severe pruning resulted in a plant that bloomed beautifully and more magnificently each year.
As I was in the process, I realized that a good pruning takes away stems that grow in multiple directions. The gardener wants only branches that support the upward growth. This sometimes means removing the low-hanging stalks that split or point downward. Those obviously need to be clipped. Suddenly, I realized my actions actually freed the plant to develop in only the intended direction. Cutting off the extra stems forces the plant to stop wasting time, energy, and resources for growth in the wrong direction. The wise owner chooses what's best for the plant and the plant responds in the only way it can – by continuing to grow what's left.
Do I want to be dense, thorny, unloved or am I willing to let God hold the pruning shears and remove the branches in my life that take up time, energy, and resources which lead me contrary to the form my gardener desires...
Perhaps for the first time, I sincerely answer, "Yes."
posted by Toph at 9:32 AM
6 Comments:
Being pruned can be so very painful, but thanks for reminding me of it's importance.
Sometimes, I choose unruly and unloved over the painful process of pruning (triple 'P' unintended, but kind of funny...)
My problem is being scared that God is going to prune the wrong limbs! How I can be so simple minded and foolish sometimes...
Beautiful. :)
woops! (that was me. Don't actually feel the need to be anonymous).
this reminds me of a graceful encouragement I received years ago from one of my mentors.a soft-spoken lady who changed several of my adolecent dipers and tried to finally get me off the milk and on to solids around my early twenties once told me more about growing grapes.
it costs much agony, twisting and almost devastating maneuvering to the farmer and the plant in preparing the primary grapevine that will carry the original cultivar of a certain vineyard-the one that stays in the soil for generations to come has to be formed into the main load (fruit) bearing plant which produces new brances that actually carry the grapes.
many of us remain content in just being the branches that carry grapes and then after a single season gets chopped off and replaced next year.
while the price of reproducing the root vine that can bear brances to grow the grapes is being pruned regularly and having your winding arms streached out away from you, never again allowed to grow for your own sake only, but for the sake of those new young branches that are mended into your open arms with the hope of bearing fruit when the time is right...
I all I have to say hmmmm......deep.
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