Ode to Crabgrass

Well, it is that time of year again.  When we chose this house to purchase, one of the things that I instantly loved was the established flower beds.  I don't have the greenest thumb, but I do love the luscious hydrangeas that are planted outside my bedroom window.  I enjoy clipping the fresh flowers from the other shrubs throughout the entire summer season.

However, I absolutely detest the crabgrass that grows deep within the dirt of these beds.  I spend hours on my hands and knees each month digging for the creepy weed growing within the earth.  While I'm totally destroying any hopes of having overly feminine hands, I am thinking very hateful words. 

Each time our beds need weeding, I draw many similarities between the crabgrass and real life.  I know it seems like a stretch, but this is what I have come up with.  At some point in a life turned awry, a person makes a conscious effort to accept the bad.  They begin to live solely for the bad and no longer fight to be the better person.  Some might say the bad is the devil working within each one of us, and perhaps I believe this too.  I'm not sure; I go back and forth.  But, none the less, the bad gets into our life. 

Like the crabgrass, the bad lives down deep in a dark place.  If you have been out weeding too, you know that the crabgrass that grows in the depths of the soil is colorless.  It is no longer green and somewhat healthy looking.  Instead it is almost white and disturbing.  It makes you wonder how it is living without the sun. 

Isn't what the bad is like?  Isn't it growing down deep?  One might try to hide the traces of the bad to the exposed eye.  Maybe the bad is drugs, alcohol, infidelity, or any other game-changer.  From a distance it might not be noticeable to those strolling along.  At some point, someone walking by is going to get a closer glimpse of the crabgrass.  Small clues will be seen and a curious eye will certainly delve deeper into the soil to see what is happening.

"Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper,
but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy."

Proverbs 28:13

Hopefully the weed can be extracted through work or the possibility of a total do-over.  That really is left up the person and their true will.  Just like in my garden, the crabgrass can be kept at bay with a little perseverance and hard work.  As I have learned, it's never easy to be rid of all of the troublesome weed, but over time, it can be cleaned out and washed anew.