I spent quite a bit of time earlier this week in the cool of the morning, pruning off all the dead canes in my raspberries bushes. Earlier this spring, I thought maybe the raspberries didn’t make it through the winter.  During “snowmegeddon”  this last January, the bushes were completely covered by a drift that was well over the top of the garden fence.  It didn’t melt completely for almost 2 months.  It was a harsh winter and a few other usually hardy plants didn’t survive through it. But recently, I started noticing new growth coming in under the dead raspberry canes.  I just needed to cut away the dead to get to the new.  It was painful since the bushes have thorns.  I wore gloves but even yet I was pricked by many of them.

By the time I had accomplished my task, I had a huge load of canes in my wheelbarrow to go to the brush pile. I was surprised by how green and lush the new growth appeared after the dead parts were removed.  I couldn’t help but ponder as I was doing this, how many dead areas within myself need to be cut away so new growth can be revealed: envy, greed, pride, anger, and unforgiveness- to name a few.  Each one of these keep new growth in my life choked out.  They take energy away that’s needed to sustain me.  It’s not easy cutting away the dead areas but I must push into it as I did with my raspberry bushes and be willing to experience some pain in the process.  In reality, I cannot do all the needed pruning on my own.  Only with the Master Gardener’s help will the job be done properly.  Being willing to hand Jesus the pruning shears is the most difficult part of the task. With His expertise, the ugly habits and dead weight of old baggage are cut away revealing the beautiful person God created me to be.  It’s a work in progress.

The garden is a good analogy for life and the raspberry bush is a fascinating plant within it. They propagate themselves by sending out new canes that root where they touch the ground. Thus they can literally move out from themselves by planting new bushes.  Most plants reproduce themselves by seeds alone but not so with the raspberry. They do have seeds in the berries that when eaten by birds can be carried far away. However, by sending out canes that root to produce new bushes, these new starts remain attached to the main plant.  So we should be with Christ:  going out but still remaining attached.  Our church family is our attachment site.  No matter how imperfect it is, the church is the bride of Christ.  The community of believers sustains and nourishes us.  It is a place of vulnerability but also a refuge of forgiveness.  Without this community we would never fully learn how to love our neighbor as ourselves.

It is no wonder that Jesus told many parables using imagery from the plant world.  He knew that common folk toiled in the fields, observing the coming and going of the seasons and would understand.  We are separated somewhat from the natural world with our automobiles, our office buildings and technology right at our fingertips.  But if we intentionally take the time to observe the sights and sounds of nature, they will reveal to us the Creator.  If we have ears to hear and eyes to see, all of nature is our teacher.