Yesterday we hit 75 in central Florida so I decided that it was the first day of spring. That meant I needed to tangle with the entangled and neglected bougainvillea bushes in my backyard. As you can see the bush on the left has lots of dead leaves (they froze when temperatures dropped and I was too busy to protect the bush by covering it up). The bush had death all over it - tangled with weeds and vines and with itself.After dozens of snips and cuts and prunings, the bush as it appears on the right looked very different. Cut back and nicely trimmed, this bush is ready to grow. Here is what I learned in the process:
1. if you don't wear gloves your hands get pricked by the thorns, and it hurts
2. major branches were dead with no life at all and had to be cut off
3. some branches merely needed a simple trim
4. some branches seemed to be alive and dead at the same time
5. deciding which branch to trim vs. which to cut off was not always easy
The parallels with real life were astounding. The bush has a glorious past with lots of purple blossoms each year and yet the state I found it in was dismal. Regardless of how many successes or victories or happy days we have in life, a day will come when we are down, struggling, and in need of help.
It was hard to cut a major branch off. These were big and needed the loppers, but I was also concerned that if I cut too much off, then I would disable or hurt the entire bush. Sometimes I know I have issues in my life to address, but I don't know if I should really tackle them. An issue might be too big. Too much pain may ensue. And maybe my life will change entirely?
Some branches were so bad, it was as if they had been neglected. What areas do I neglect in myself?
Trimming a branch felt good and it was so much easier. Making incremental changes in my life is a lot easier, much more pleasant. Growth is not only necessary for health, but taking care of myself enables me to grow more and more.
However, at times a big branch needs to be removed, for whatever reason. Likewise, major changes have to occur at times. Maybe the best way to get at an issue is to totally remove it, totally address it, attack it and defeat it.
What was interesting was finding a branch that looked dead but had signs of life. It gave me hope to keep it. It made me creative in determining where to cut or where to trim it.
We humans carry around both life and death within us. If we give in to death, we die each day. If we choose life, we live another day. Choosing to trim out the sin, laziness, disease, lack of self-control, and worldliness in our lives gives life and godliness and beauty an opportunity to have a larger place in our hearts and minds.
I can't wait to see my two bougainvilleas in two months. They will look different than they did before I trimmed them - full of lovely blossoms due to an imposed growth spurt. It will be a reminder to me to keep growing and changing and becoming the man I am supposed to be. Hope does spring eternal.
Our culture tells us not to change, to stay true to ourselves. The truer message is to learn, and grow, and change, to become all that we can be.
{Thought to ponder:
Being a gardener of our own garden enables us to maintain ourselves in a healthy way. But there are other gardeners in our lives: spouses, children, friends, God, bosses, who else?}
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