Pruning

Most of the fallen limbs are gone and only one downed tree remains to dismantle, a task for those with chainsaws. Now I need to tend to my house plants.

While most survived the four frigid days without heat, one of them suffered considerable damage. It lived closer to the window, closer to the cold. As a side note, the Christmas Cactus seemed to love the cooler temps!

I am grateful that I did not attend this plant immediately when it was all dead and brown. I thought I would have to dispose of it. But in the weeks since power was restored, new green leaves have appeared. A white blossom has even presented itself. “I’m not dead yet!”

So, I got out my scissors and pruned off all the dead leaves and brittle stems. What is left is small but healthy.

It seems an apt practice for Lent. That is what we are called to do in our lives. Cut away all the dead waste, the useless pursuits, the brittle branches. Leave the healthy, holy part of lives to grow unfettered by dead-end activities.

Let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race set before us. Hebrews 12:1b.

And now that the dead leaves are gone, the healthy green leaves shine. They are what I see when I look at my plant. Not brown, wilted leaves and brittle stems, but healthy, vibrant growth. Isn’t that what we what others to see in us? Not our decaying, worthless activity, but the beauty of a healthy and holy life, love, and growth?

It just took getting rid of the other stuff.

The old leaves weren’t “bad.” They had brought beauty to my home for years. But things had changed and they were no longer the source of joy they had once been. In a sense, they were reminders of what once had been but was not now.

Am I cluttering my life with reminders of what once was? Not just my home, but my mind? I am slow to give up those things that were once precious to the people who were precious to me. Not that I care about Royal Dalton figurines, but my mother did. Not that I love antlers and deer heads, but Nick did. And those toys my children loved? I still have them.

I think it is okay for mementos from the past to occupy some physical space. But my mental space needs to be filled with God and His desires for today, not cluttered with joys and regrets from the past. I need to prune back the brown and brittle leaves and let the healthy new growth shine.

It may not look like much. At least right now. But God has taught me that when I strip away all the excess, dead stuff, the living, vital things grow.

I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower. He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit. John 15:1-2.

And that is what I want to do – bear fruit for God’s kingdom, bear the Holy Spirit’s fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, and Christ-like living. (Galatians 5:22)

I pray that each of us lets God guide us in the pruning of our lives.

Love in Christ, Betsy