So much can happen in ourlives that shape and change us, that helps us on our journey. I expereince things that do this nearly on a daily basis, even more so recently.
Discussing before that we have a song that fits us is still a strange concept, yet musicians when they write songs must sitfor hours changing notes within their score to get what they have right in their head down on to their newly written score.
In life we should be doing the same.
With my DPD and my physical health, I come across many challenges that I should evaluate and process, and at times it seems a little that I am always processing. But I believe that this is a good thing, I would like to see this as a form of discipline. The word Discipline should never be used in the concept of punishment, and that this is where so many people becomeconfused and even "fail." 'Discipline' comes from the word 'Disciple' meaning "follow and train." We should all berecognising and doing this, seeing ourselves as children and therefore correcting children in their behaviour by showing them what they should do, and not just punishing when they go off course. God, in the garden of Eden, gives Adam this very task. He was asked to be the keeper of the garden; he was asked to cultivate.
15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.
Genesis 2:15
He wasn't told to dig out the weeds or cut the grass, he was told to work on it and take care of it. In other terms Cultivate.
The same should be used for us, as family, parents and friends. We are meant to help the people around us and cultivate them in the way that God wanted them to be. The problem is that we tend to just be pulling weeds or cutting grass. It doesn't solve the problem, it just hides it for a while.
And to be honest not many of us stick to our gardening tasks. So many see the thought of continually helping and cultivating as a tiring job, or that there is something that just isn't right so decide to keep just cultivating one thing, usually their own individual life/song/plant. So hiding it away seems such an easy choice.
My dad is a keen gardener, although it is a running joke that you will never find him in the garden when the football is on. I always enjoy watching him prune back the rose bush, he looks like such an expert. The rose bushes get to about 6 ft tall. It is now about 3 ft, my dad didn't hack at it, he spent an hour neatly cutting away. Now, I admit when I see it, I always think that he has got carried away, when confronting him his reply was, "now when it blooms it will choose a beautiful path to bloom into". And that, for me, is exactly what God asked Adam to do. That is exactly what we should be doing to one another, steering them in the right direction, and asking that the choices they make to be choices that will please God, most importantly, putting Him central for everything.
Cultivating doesnt mean digging everything up in the garden, or choosing your favourite plants and just because some do not fit right that you cut them out of the garden all together, it is time to cultivate them, maybe just spend some time with them and prune back the difficult areas, as like dad did, you will find that it will bloom beautifully allowing for a more beautiful journey.
(On a side note isn't the word Cultivate a fantastic word, God keeps showing me this word in so many ways)
Being a big fan of the Karate Kid films in the 80's, I think Mr. Miagi had the right idea. In the third film I remember they own up a Bonsi tree shop. Having this little tree Daniel says "I think it might be difficult to make even that look like a Bonsi" Cuts to a scene later and there it is, this beautiful Bonsi tree. Mr. Miagi explains that the true tree was hidden in side, he just helped it come out. He, unlike Daniel, didnt dismiss it and "cut it out" he worked hard on something, cultivating it until its inner beauty came out. Should we all do that to ourselves and others?
So my question to you is, Are you just pulling out weeds? Are you cutting the trees back because they are blocking the light or because you want them to grow in the light? Are you cultivating around you or just gardening? And how often do you really sit and cultivate things rather than saying I can't do that and cutting that plant out because you don't want to spend so much time cultivating it?
Discussing before that we have a song that fits us is still a strange concept, yet musicians when they write songs must sitfor hours changing notes within their score to get what they have right in their head down on to their newly written score.
In life we should be doing the same.
With my DPD and my physical health, I come across many challenges that I should evaluate and process, and at times it seems a little that I am always processing. But I believe that this is a good thing, I would like to see this as a form of discipline. The word Discipline should never be used in the concept of punishment, and that this is where so many people becomeconfused and even "fail." 'Discipline' comes from the word 'Disciple' meaning "follow and train." We should all berecognising and doing this, seeing ourselves as children and therefore correcting children in their behaviour by showing them what they should do, and not just punishing when they go off course. God, in the garden of Eden, gives Adam this very task. He was asked to be the keeper of the garden; he was asked to cultivate.
15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.
Genesis 2:15
He wasn't told to dig out the weeds or cut the grass, he was told to work on it and take care of it. In other terms Cultivate.
The same should be used for us, as family, parents and friends. We are meant to help the people around us and cultivate them in the way that God wanted them to be. The problem is that we tend to just be pulling weeds or cutting grass. It doesn't solve the problem, it just hides it for a while.
And to be honest not many of us stick to our gardening tasks. So many see the thought of continually helping and cultivating as a tiring job, or that there is something that just isn't right so decide to keep just cultivating one thing, usually their own individual life/song/plant. So hiding it away seems such an easy choice.
My dad is a keen gardener, although it is a running joke that you will never find him in the garden when the football is on. I always enjoy watching him prune back the rose bush, he looks like such an expert. The rose bushes get to about 6 ft tall. It is now about 3 ft, my dad didn't hack at it, he spent an hour neatly cutting away. Now, I admit when I see it, I always think that he has got carried away, when confronting him his reply was, "now when it blooms it will choose a beautiful path to bloom into". And that, for me, is exactly what God asked Adam to do. That is exactly what we should be doing to one another, steering them in the right direction, and asking that the choices they make to be choices that will please God, most importantly, putting Him central for everything.
Cultivating doesnt mean digging everything up in the garden, or choosing your favourite plants and just because some do not fit right that you cut them out of the garden all together, it is time to cultivate them, maybe just spend some time with them and prune back the difficult areas, as like dad did, you will find that it will bloom beautifully allowing for a more beautiful journey.
(On a side note isn't the word Cultivate a fantastic word, God keeps showing me this word in so many ways)
Being a big fan of the Karate Kid films in the 80's, I think Mr. Miagi had the right idea. In the third film I remember they own up a Bonsi tree shop. Having this little tree Daniel says "I think it might be difficult to make even that look like a Bonsi" Cuts to a scene later and there it is, this beautiful Bonsi tree. Mr. Miagi explains that the true tree was hidden in side, he just helped it come out. He, unlike Daniel, didnt dismiss it and "cut it out" he worked hard on something, cultivating it until its inner beauty came out. Should we all do that to ourselves and others?
So my question to you is, Are you just pulling out weeds? Are you cutting the trees back because they are blocking the light or because you want them to grow in the light? Are you cultivating around you or just gardening? And how often do you really sit and cultivate things rather than saying I can't do that and cutting that plant out because you don't want to spend so much time cultivating it?
No comments:
Post a Comment