Nature is tenacious! Have you noticed that plants grow in the most unexpected places? I remember one of my OH (ornamental horticulture) instructors defined weeds as plants that are growing in places where we don't want them.
In looking up the definition of weeds, though, I found several less flattering definitions:
"A valueless plant growing wild, especially one that grows on cultivated ground to the exclusion or injury of the desired crop."
"Any undesirable or troublesome plant, especially one that grows profusely
where it is unwanted."
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| How do we define beauty? (Photo: flowering plant clinging to a brick wall, Dublin, Ireland - Larry Gardepie) |
Wow! A living member of creation that we define as valueless, wild, to the exclusion or injury (of what is desired), undesirable, troublesome, and unwanted.
Where have we heard those words recently? Maybe how we look at people who find themselves without a permanent home? Maybe how we see or fear immigrants in our community? Maybe how we encounter or label family members who have a different outlook on or rhythm of life?
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| Where do we belong? (Photo: delicate plant clinging to a rock wall, Donegal, Ireland - Larry Gardepie) |
It begs a question of us:
Who are the "weeds" in our lives -- those people we set apart as valueless, wild, undesirable, troublesome, and unwanted?
Or, in other words, those people we exclude for fear of injury to ourselves and our way of life.
Depending on our answer, another question may surface: Why?
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| What do you cling to? (Photo: flowering plant clinging to a retaining wall, Waterford, Ireland - Larry Gardepie) |
If anything, maybe we can learn from nature: be tenacious and bloom where you are planted! Rather than seeing undesirables in the homeless and immigrant communities, can we reach into the crevices of our life and see sacred beauty, worth, and value? Can we nurture and encourage? Can we accept and include?
All of these questions require us to reflect deeply on our own separation and pain -- times when we might have been identified as unwanted or undesirable. In addition, we are invited into dialogue about areas where we feel vulnerable, alone, and not valued.
Are you willing to reflect with me on the weeds in your life?
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| Larry Gardepie
Dialogue San Diego Consulting
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