Meditation for November 2007

A few days ago, at the first sign of frost, I brought in my three planters of geraniums. All summer long, they had bloomed giving me a multitude of bright red blossoms. The geraniums had benefited from a hot summer of sunshine and, though there was little rain, with regular watering and artificial plant food, the plants grew bushy and lush. Every time I saw their vibrant blooms my heart leapt with thanksgiving and praise.

Today, after a couple of weeks of settling in to their winter home in the sunroom, I gave them their yearly pruning, cutting their tall stems down to only an inch with a few leaves. The stems were green inside, showing that they were still alive. I find this gardening duty a little unpleasant and I have to admit that I did leave one plant intact because it still had a blossom in bud. Somehow, it doesn’t seem right to cut back their strong growth and I wonder if the plants experience pain with the cut of the scissors.

However, I know from experience that the plants will benefit from this annual ritual of cutting them back and I think of Our Lord’s words, I am the 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, N.R.S.V. Just as I cut back my geranium plants in order to make them grow, so our souls’ Gardener prunes our spirit’s branches in order to strengthen our spiritual growth. If we see our life’s difficulties as the Gardener’s pruning of our spiritual branches, we will be able to endure the trials we are going through and grow stronger and more mature in our spiritual blossoms and fruit.

Sometimes, we may be afraid of the hurt that comes to us from life and we may try to avoid feeling love and pain, loss or joy that come to us in our daily experiences. But if we refuse to feel these things, our spirit will be unable to blossom or produce fruit. Then our Gardener would have the sad task of removing that spiritual branch from the Vine. It is better to allow the pruning of our spirit’s branches in order that we may grow and mature in the Holy Spirit.

Every experience that comes along in our lives can be a means of strong growth of the spirit’s harvest. St. Paul tells us, The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Galatians 5: 22, 23; who would not be glad of some pruning in order to produce such beautiful fruit in the Spirit?

Are you experiencing a time of the Gardener’s pruning in your life right now? Name that experience. Give thanks to the Gardener for the pruning in your life. Accept the Gardener’s pruning and allow your spirit to grow in strength and produce the good fruit that God desires for you.

 © Judith Lawrence, November 2007

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