Weeds! Weeds! Weeds!

Gan Am Messiah has two sites.  One at the Congregation and another at a member's home.  We have alot of variety at the  Beth Am Messiah.  We have planted, picked, and pulled up lettuce, peas (podded and edible pod), and spinach.  We have re-planted with beans, yellow and zucchini squash, more beets and more tomatoes. We have been blessed with our first tomato, which we will enjoy on a platter with store bought tomatoes at our oneg this Shabbat. 

There have been problems, primarily a groundhog who my wife has named Goniff.  (It means thief.  She also said that if he keeps stilling we'll make him - gone if...)  The fences have been fixed and beautified with marigolds.  After I determined that Goniff had pushed our gates open.  I created a "lock" for those gates.  Thankfully others have found some substance that should deter Goniff and send him to tastier pastures..er gardens.

The garden at the congregation is in raised beds filled with topsoil graciously given us by a landscaper.  However, the other site is a first year tilled, unraised garden with lots of weed seeds. We planted crops that would take up more space:  potatoes, butternut squash, and cucumbers,. You can see from the mini-videos those weeds (and my learning curve with an ipad camera).  Weeds are another enemy of the farmer.

Yeshua (Jesus) used them in some of His parables to illustrate one of the ways the enemy of our souls attacks us.  Yeshua had more than one parable about weeds, but let us look at the one in Luke 8

⁴ While a large crowd was gathering and people were coming to Jesus from town after town, he told this parable: ⁵ “A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path; it was trampled on, and the birds of the air ate it up. ⁶ Some fell on rock, and when it came up, the plants withered because they had no moisture. ⁷ Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up with it and choked the plants. ⁸ Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up and yielded a crop, a hundred times more than was sown.” (NIV)

I like raspberries, but they do not belong in the garden. I have a saying. Anything that is growing where you do not want it to grow is a weed. Thorns are particularly nasty weeds. Not only do they hurt plants but they also hurt those who try to remove them.
Then Yeshua interpreted the parable, you can read the whole but I want to merely quote His teaching about the weeds. 

¹⁴ The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature  (Luke 8:14 -NIV)

In the garden of life where our souls dwell, we are surrounded by many of life's worries and cares.  Clearly the economy is a worry for many of us.  We worry about whether the right person will be elected as president.  We work to advance ourselves in school or in our professions. There may be good reason to have concerns about these, but even they can be a distract. 

Of course distractions can come in very minor ways.  Did I DVR that show I like so much?  Did I remember to "like" the online game I have been playing?  Did I get to the store in time to get the super terrific bargin on bon-bons?  My Uncle Walter used to describe a donut shop that made excellant donuts.  He said that the donut maker had a secret recipe and there were people who worried that the man would die without sharing his recipe. 

All of these things, even our rightful concerns, when they become the center of our lives are weeds.  We need to deal with those weed.  It takes work to pull them out.  Even if the weed it a raspberry, it takes work to transplant it to where it belongs.  We must not let the weeds crowd out the things that our Heavenly Father has given us.  He has given us family, friends, and even most importantly His Messiah - Yeshua.  Yeshua spoke of the things that we have need of in the Sermon on the Mount saying, "³³ But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. ³⁴ Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."  (Matthew 6:33-34-NIV).


"  ⁶ Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. ⁷ And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Messiah Yeshua." (Phillipians 4:6,7 - NIV with Messiah Yeshua subtituted for Christ Jesus)

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Perpetual Spinach,  Swiss Chard, Beets with Greens and Basil