Cutting Back

Last September I did something completely uncharacteristic of my usual frugal self. I spent several hundred dollars on landscaping around the front of my house. (I don’t know if you get to call it “landscaping” when it’s only flower beds, but I will, anyway. I’m very proud of it.) I discovered that the friendly couple down the street who wave and smile when I walk by have their own small business related to gardening and irrigation systems, and I decided to take the plunge. I asked them to plant some flowers and do something to encourage the slowly-dying but stubborn irises that come back year after year. The result was quite amazing and wonderful. I have so enjoyed looking at the mix of roses, lantana, plumbago, yucca, and newly-revitalized irises.

When cold weather came, I worried about the plants, but Molly, the gardener, assured me that they would be all right. And sure enough, the irises began to bloom last week, and there were some rosebuds visible this morning. Before that, though, I was worried. The other plants were bare and straggly and brown, and I wondered if they had really made it. Molly saw me digging up weeds in my front yard Saturday afternoon, and came down with gloves and shears, offering to do some clearing out and cutting back. I had to go back into the house to take care of some things, and left her at her work. When I came back out an hour later, what a change! The spindly, bare branches were all gone, and the plumbago, lantana, and shrimp plants were cut way back. Molly and Jonathan had also weeded the flower beds, and cleaned up the yucca. At that point I remembered the conversations (sometimes arguments) I had heard over the years about cutting back plants. How much? When? I never knew enough to get involved in those exchanges.

Then it came to me that perhaps “cutting back” is an appropriate metaphor for me at this stage of life. Perhaps that’s something we might all think about during Lent. Established habits of thought and patterns of behavior can get dry and barren of meaning, so that occasional gentle pruning or even severe cutting back can help us refocus on what matters most. Giving up things that really aren’t important anymore and making room for new growth is important.

We’re doing some financial cutting back at church, not without pain. Yet I have hope that these cutbacks will help us focus on what is most important, and inspire us to give more for those things. We can trust God to give the growth.

And as to those flower beds, I can hardly wait to see what will come next. Will the plants really come back and bloom? I trust Molly, and I certainly trust God!