A Lesson From A Buddleia

The Lesson of the Buddleia

Those who know me well, will know, I am not one of nature’s happy little gardeners.

As far as I am concerned, God’s punishment to Adam when he banished him from the Garden of Eden was a bit harsh;

Cursed is the ground because of you;
    through painful toil you will eat food from it
    all the days of your life.
It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
    and you will eat the plants of the field.

(Genesis 3 vs. 17 – 18)

Some of my regular readers will also know that Paula and I recently moved house.  To prove that God has a sense of humour, we are now blessed, with the biggest garden we have ever had!

It has a lot of potential.  We can use it for social events, garden parties and it can be a place of relaxation and reflection.  However, it also takes some maintenance.

Looking from our sitting room window, there is a large buddleia bush.  I like a nice buddleia. When in full bloom, they attract pollinating insects, I love the butterflies. Most important of all, if you have my gardening abilities, they are darn near impossible to kill!

Our buddleia has become somewhat overgrown and in need of a serious haircut.

This afternoon, I had an hour to spare and so, loppers in hand, I set about reclaiming our buddleia.  As I started to hack away, I discovered, underneath, were plants we had no idea where there.  I found a garden light.  More of the gardens potential became apparent as I removed more of the buddleia.

I filled the recycling bin with dead flowers, branches and leaf material.  In no time at all the bin was full.  I stood back to admire all I had achieved and discovered, you could not see where I had been.

I felt disappointed.  I had put the effort in.  The bin could not fit anything else in, so why did the buddleia look no tamer than when I started?

Whenever I face a major dilemma or question, I put the kettle on and have a cup of tea.

I found myself thinking of the words of Jesus from John’s gospel;

I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.

(John 15 vs. 1 -2)

I pictured the gardener coming along and with, a few snips, job done.  I felt God was saying to me;

pruning is not an event, it is a process. 

As a process, it takes time.

It feels that Paula and I are in a time of pruning.  The move has shaken our lives up. In the process, our weekly markers and routines the pattern of our lives has all gone.

I realised, this morning, every time I get in the car, I have to switch the satnav on because, I have no clue where I am going. 

For Paula, this process is especially hard, I have a role to perform she has to carve out her niche. 

Please do not misunderstand me, the move was right we know there will be fruit to come but, for now, we need to allow the gardener to do the necessary pruning.