In my odd moments of spare time this week I’ve been busy weeding. I’d thought I had the garden under control, having spent more time out there this year than for many a long time, but a few particularly busy weeks of editing work had prevented me doing much recently, and suddenly I was aware that grass was sprouting in the flowerbeds and weeds starting to pop up everywhere. It was a salutary reminder that garden requires ongoing commitment; a truth that inspired the following reflective prayer for my book Heaven Touching Earth, which draws a comparison with the similar commitment needed in Christian discipleship if faith is choked and finally overwhelmed but everything that can so easily overcome it.
The weeds
I thought I’d shifted them,
the weed-killer and trowel having done their job,
but after a few months they were there again,
springing up everywhere,
strangling and suffocating,
as vigorous as ever,
and I realised that gaining control
was not a one-off battle
but a continuing war.
Teach me, Lord, that I too must be vigilant
if the tender shoots of faith are not to be overwhelmed.
Faults and weaknesses,
though conquered for a moment,
are rarely eliminated –
each awaiting their moment,
ready to burst into life when my back is turned
and take over again.
Save me, then, from complacency,
and keep me alert to whatever may undermine
the life you have sown within me,
so that it may not simply grow
but, above all, flourish.
Amen.