It wasn’t that I didn’t try. I did try. I read how to do it. I got some good advise. I bought the right fertilizer. I weeded. I hoed. And the garden still crashed and burned! Hey, I guess I’m not very good at gardening. Kind of like I am at fishing. Oh well, some of us have talents in other places.
But there was one gardening principle that caught my attention; pruning. Every book I read or every expert I consulted all said the same thing: for a plant to be healthy, you have to prune now and again. But you have to do it in the right way or it will hurt the plant. During this season of Great Lent, we all need the discernment and wisdom and humility to know when and where to prune our own lives!
Look at our lesson today in Isaiah 4:2-5:7:
In that day the branch of the LORD shall be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land shall be the pride and glory of the survivors of Israel. And he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy, every one who has been recorded for life in Jerusalem, when the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and cleansed the bloodstains of Jerusalem from its midst by a spirit of judgment and by a spirit of burning. Then the LORD will create over the whole site of Mount Zion and over her assemblies a cloud by day, and smoke and the shining of a flaming fire by night; for over all the glory there will be a canopy and a pavilion. It will be for a shade by day from the heat, and for a refuge and a shelter from the storm and rain. Let me sing for my beloved a love song concerning his vineyard: My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill. He digged it and cleared it of stones, and planted it with choice vines; he built a watchtower in the midst of it, and hewed out a wine vat in it; and he looked for it to yield grapes, but it yielded wild grapes.
St. Isaiah the prophet is telling his readers that God is pruning His people. And those left in the city of Jerusalem will be those who were “healthy” enough to make the cut, so to speak. So it is with the work of the Holy Spirit in the People of God. God prunes His “vineyard” the Church just as He has through the centuries.
Here are some observations about the power and pain of spiritual pruning:
First, Spiritual Pruning Takes Wisdom. All too often I’m either too easy on myself or too hard on myself. So, most of the time I really don’t know when or how to “cut” things out of my life. No wonder King David said in Psalms “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me.” Don’t try to “prune” your life by yourself. Pray, Confess, and seek out spiritual wisdom.
Next, Spiritual Pruning Takes Humility. No one “enjoys” discipline. But you won’t grow without it. Stop avoiding the confrontation with yourself and take the chance that the spiritual disciplines are for your own good!
Finally, Spiritual Pruning Takes Love. An old saying I love: “You may have many enemies in this world, but God is never one of them!” I know this spiritual pruning is painful at times, but God loves you and wants you to thrive. But that won’t happen if you don’t allow the Lord to cut away that which is unhealthy for you in your life.
Today, yes, the disciplines of Great Lent are hard. The services and the prostrations and the Prayer of St. Ephraim are costly and serious and demanding. But how will you ever discover the places in your life that need pruning if you don’t expose your daily life to the loving work of God in being Orthodox on Purpose?
3 Comments
Peter Falk
Or, if I may add, how will you find out if you have a cat in the ashram. This is a reference to the great story that Anthony DeMello told in The Way to Love: Meditations for Life. This is my first Lent season attending an Orthodox Church and I get all the emphasis on fasting. It reminds me of my charismatic friends’ emphasis on speaking in tongues. I am talking about the emphasis and not on whether or not it is correct. In the light of Owen Barfield’s emphasis on meaning it may not be any different in the end.
I used to run long distances and it wasn’t until I met a group of runners that knew how easy it was that I learned to run long distances. We would run and talk, not about running but about life. Jesus taught us to fast, but he also said: “my burden is easy and my yoke is light.”
Sharon Walters
This was excellent Peter. As a 76-year old convert to Orthodoxy, I hear from women my age that I can’t have this and I can’t have that and I must do this and I must do that. It seems like I’ve come under the law and if I don’t come under it I feel so guilty so I have decided to forego chocolate .my favorite thing by the way, and I want the Lord to see that and to know that I consider this Lent serious business. Well, not business, but serious Orthodoxy. Thank you so much for your comments it helped me so much.
Rachel
I hope father Barnabas gets better from his laryngitis soon. I wish him well!