Weeding the Garden

I am not a gardener. There is pretty landscaping with green and color around the house, but it is adornment designed for low maintenance. I admire you, real gardeners. I have, like you, however, plucked up my share of weeds. I recall being charged to weed out the unwanted species in the front lawn as a youngster. There I was in the middle of the grass, with a little tool in my hand and a paper sack beside me, pulling up the weeds and tossing them in the bag. The whole idea obviously is that these hearty, efficiently duplicating species were not welcome and the grass of choice we did want, needed full range to soak up the water and nutrients.

Let’s think figuratively. Inside of us is a little garden. It has plant materials. Some of them are good for us and our interactions within the community. Some of them are harmful to us and troublesome for the circles around us. Do you know from where the following lines come?

You must understand this, my beloved: let everyone be quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to anger; for your anger does not produce God's righteousness. Therefore rid yourselves of all sordidness and rank growth of wickedness, and welcome with meekness the implanted word that has the power to save your souls.

These are lines from the very spiritual and very practical document in the New Testament we call The Epistle of James. It is near the back of your Bible, right after Hebrews, and right before the Peter Epistles and John Epistles. This short general letter, distributed to a wide circle of Christian readers, might have been the work of James, called “the just” the first supervisor of the church in Jerusalem, possibly the stepbrother of Jesus.

This passage, James 1:19-21, is within the second reading this Sunday. It will come right after the psalm at the Eucharist. We take in a lot of the Bible with our sacraments. It has as a premise we take into ourselves much that is harmful and insidious. We should not let it flourish and grow. It has as a premise there is much which is life-giving and lifesaving planted in us. Among the evil and sordid elements that can be growing in us James names the weed of anger. He says we must “rid ourselves” and discard destructive, invasive elements. He urges us to “welcome with meekness the implanted word,” the powerful element that can save our souls.

Just like you welcome, St. Augustine or Charleston grass and the fescue, just like you repel the crabgrass, dandelion, and Creeping Charlie, we should meekly accept the saving word and have done with the wretched stuff that can take us over. When we want to lash out, we might count to ten, and remember the saving word that is in us.  We are to “be quick to listen, and slow to speak”. That is hard and takes practice. One practice I want to cultivate further for myself is Christian Meditation. I would love to teach you about this. Over time it is convincing me that not every moment has to be filled with words or racing thoughts. Certainly, no moment has to include hot-tempered vitriol from my tongue.