Last week was a glorious week of being with my sister in Maryland then was followed by a weekend of theatre, walking, great food and more walking in New York.

This week, it’s resting and weeding. In truth, the weeds are winning on some fronts. The weeds in one spot in the garden have a shallow root system but come back every year no matter how much I go after them.

stay with me 

In one office I worked in—when meetings would sometimes go off course—one colleague was always telling us to “stay out of the weeds.” Get back on topic. Stay with me, people!

I do want to weed and clean and keep the beds as free of the noxious bandits as possible so that the real plants aren’t choked out and that the birds continue to find my garden the place they want to hang out.

An understory that has some weeds is inevitable but keeping them at bay is another matter. What I have learned about the weeds is that I need to take them out one by one.

the examen 

St. Ignatius of Loyola had a different way of looking at the weeds of our life. He called his prayer the examen. When we pray the examen we take an opportunity to look over our day to notice—sticking with the gardening metaphor—the weeds in our life.

The important thing when looking at the “weeds” is to always look at them in the perspective of the whole of the garden. In other words, our life as seen from the lens of a loving God who only wants the best for us and loves us no matter what!

 the poet speaks

Fanny Howe, a poet I began reading this month says:

            Examine your conscience

            until you are a postulant

            who has only one sin to offer God.

            Soon you’ll wash that thing off…

of beginning again

Within the context of God’s love we pay attention to those things that we know we could have done better.

What do I notice popping up in my life over the past day? What do I wish I had pruned from my experiences?

I ask God to walk with me and help me look forward to a new day beginning again tomorrow.

It is in this grace that we find ourselves every day as we begin anew, loved, forgiven.