Weeding Lessons

"When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it.  She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.  Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves."  Genesis 3:6-7

They say that all things bad appeared after the Fall of Man.  Of course, pain in childbirth, broken relationships, and that biggie, separation from God.  But they also say that the "little" bad things came about with sin, as well.  Things like mosquitoes.  And those infernal weeds.

But I started thinking about this the other day as I was (surprise, surprise) weeding.  I started to wonder if it was really reasonable to think that weeds suddenly appeared after the Fall.  After all, Adam and Eve had always been naked, but they didn't know any different.  They didn't know it was "bad," or something of which they should be ashamed

Maybe the Garden was a big, wonderful place where all of nature worked together in some big, elaborate maze of beauty, in which one couldn't tell where the "real plants" ended and the "weeds" began.  Maybe it was all perfectly harmonious, until Adam and Eve had their Great Moment of Realization.

And now, weeds are bad.  We sit outside, and we break our backs and strain our muscles pulling them out, making way for those "real plants" to grow and thrive.  Many weeds are just as beautiful as cultivated plants, with just as vibrant blossoms, just as fragrant roots.  And they're certainly stubborn and hardy, defying removal.

There's probably another analogy here altogether, about God pruning and weeding the bad things out of us, and I'd buy that, too.  But tonight, I wonder if maybe, just maybe, we work so hard to take out what's considered ugly and make way for what's considered beautiful, we miss seeing God in His completeness.  We miss the idea that maybe weeds aren't that ugly after all; indeed, He created them just as He created fruits and flowers.  And maybe, just maybe, weeds can teach us something about God Himself.