Reflection by Beth Bojarski.
Once the soil is healthy, built up in nutrients and given the proper amount of water, a gardener’s greatest challenge is weeds; these sometimes small and other times gnarly greens that tangle with stems and roots and steal away resources from the plant the gardener intended to grow. The same is true of invasive species along the roadside or in a backyard or vacant lot, plants like honeysuckle, kudzu, English ivy.
But listen, Thurman says: float up through the chaos. Calm and quiet the soul, urges the Psalmist. James writes, rid yourselves of all sordidness and rank growth of wickedness. In short: weed the garden.
In her latest memoir, Glennon Doyle tells the story of finding her “knowing,” her still, small, God-given voice that had been buried by cultural memos and norms. These invasive messages tangle with all our stems and roots and smother what James calls “the implanted word that has the power to save your soul.” Center down. Listen. Pull out the invasive. Find your knowing, that deeper note which only the stillness of the heart makes clear.
Beth Bojarski spent her youth exploring the Adirondack mountains of New York. Beth’s background and study of environmental theology has led her journey to sense God in the natural world. She's been a lay leader and camp director in the Episcopal Church for over a decade. Beth, her husband Mitch, and their sons Eliot and James currently call Cincinnati home.