~Hanamuke no Merodii

Finally, my most anticipated section of my weblog is now up. Haha. I will be updating this regularly and I will write one by one. Hopefully, you can give me your insights too! ^_^

DISCLAIMER: The following short stories are from Paulo Coelho’s book Like the Flowing River.

TIP: Since WordPress has no way of putting posts under separate pages, I advice using the Find tool in your browser (Ctrl + F) to search for the title of the latest reflection because what will happen here is just all the reflections will just be compiled under a “single post”, which is the page itself. Argh.

Prepared for Battle, But with a Few Doubts

I’m wearing a strange green outfit, full of zips and made from a very tough fabric. I have gloves on too, in order to avoid cuts and scratches. I’m carrying a kind of spear, almost as tall as I am. The metal end has three prongs on one side, and a sharp point on the other.

And before my lies the object of my attack: the garden.

With the spear in my hand, I start to remove the weeds growing amongst the grass. I do this for quite a while, knowing that each plant I dig up will die within two days.

Suddenly, I ask myself: am I doing the right thing?

What we call a ‘ weed ” is, in fact, an attempt at survival by a particular species that took Nature millions of years to create and develop. The flower was fertilized at the expense of innumerable insects; it was transformed into seed; the wind scattered it over the fields round about; and so – because it was not planted in just one place, but in many – its chances of surviving until the next spring are that much greater. If it was concentrated in just one place, it would be vulnerable to being eaten, to flood, fire and drought.

But all that effort to survive is brought up short by the point of a spear, which mercilessly plucks the plant from the soil.

Why am I doing this?

Someone created this graden. I don’t know who, because when I bought the house, the garden was already here in harmony with the surrounding mountains and trees. But its creator must have thought long and hard about what he or she was doing, must have carefully planted and planned and tended it through countless winters and springs. When I moved into the old mill – where I spend a few months of each year – the lawn was immaculate. Now it is up to me to continue that work, although the philosophical question remains: should I respect the work of the creator, of the gardener or should I accept the survival instinct with which nature endowed this plant, which I now call a ‘ weed ‘?

I continue digging up unwanted plants and placing them on a pile that will soon be burned. Perhaps I am giving too much thought to things that have less to do with thought and more to do with action. But, then, every gesture made by a human being is sacred and full of consequences, and that makes me think even more about what I am doing.

On the one hand, these plants have the right to broadcast themselves everywhere. On the other hand, if I don’t destroy them now they will end up choking the grass. In the New Testament, Jesus talks about separating the wheat from the tares.

But, with or without the support of the Bible – I am faced by a concrete problem alwats faced by humanity: how far should we interfere with nature? Is such interference always negative, or can it be occasionally positive?

I set aside my weapon – also known as a weeder. Each blow means the end of a life, the death of a flower that would have bloomed in the spring – such is the arrogance of the human being constantly trying to shape the landscape around him. I need to give the matter more thought, because I am, at this moment, wielding the power of life and death.

… Encouraged by this recollection, I pick up my spear again, attack the weeds I did not invite to grow in my garden and am left with this morning’s one lesson: when something undesirable grows in my soul, I ask God to give me the same courage mercilessly to pluck it out.

My thoughts: I think the reason why Sir Paulo decided to pluck the weeds is because of love. Love for the flowers that will bloom and for the garden as well. Pulling the weeds promote the growth of the flowers – and this is how love should grow among us. Sometimes, even if it’s hard, we have to pull our weeds so that the we can grow physically and spiritually.