Weeding and Breathing
I have a problem with weeds.
They are everywhere and no matter what I do, they come back.
He answered, 'An enemy has done this.' The slaves said to him, 'Then do you want us to go and gather them?' But he replied, 'No; for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them. - Matthew 13:28-29
In today's Gospel reading, Jesus is telling a story about weeds.
He says that someone evil has scattered seeds of weeds among the wheat, so that the crop is infested with weeds.
The slave wants to know if he should go out and pick the weeds, but the master tells him that would harm the wheat, so he says he should wait and harvest the wheat when it is ready.
Let it run its course, he tells him. Be patient.
How hard is that? Doesn't that go against our way of thinking?
When we are ravaged by disease like cancer, we do exactly the opposite. We don't let the cancer grow with the good cells; we stop all cells from growing and hope the cancer ones die in greater numbers, leaving the good cells to reproduce and fight off the invaders.
But like my garden, the weeds come back. And they look pretty darn healthy.
When it comes to cancer, we wouldn't think of doing nothing, of letting the cancer grow at its own pace. We want to pick those weeds out one by one and be free of them.
What it comes down to though in the long run, is how well we managed to keep the garden growing and blooming despite the weeds.
My friend Rick is dealing with this now. His cancer treatments are on hold while he struggles to keep the fluid out of his lungs. He needs to continue to breathe to be able to get back to the weeding.
So, the message from today's reading for me is one of hope and strength. Keep the good wheat alive so it can be harvested. At some point we have to let the weeds be so we can focus on the wheat, and that is what Rick is doing now.
We are praying he will continue to have the strength and success he needs to keep the fight going, and we know it is hard for him.
So, I ask for your help. Add him to your prayers and ask God to drain his lungs, push back the weeds and give him a chance to bloom.
Thank you.
More to come...