Weeds

By: Shazia Yousuf

In a garden with lovely vibrant blossoms and fresh crisp green vegetation, weeds are inevitable. A gardener has to be vigilant, always on the lookout for them; de-weeding every now and then, or else the plants in the garden would grow weak and wilt.

But some of the weeds are so beautiful; you may not even want to pluck them off. Looking at the beauty of these naturally growing plants, it makes me wonder, who are we to mercilessly pull the weeds out?

Weeds are also a part of nature, essentially God’s creation. Nothing exists without a reason; nothing comes into being on its own. So, are we out of our selfish desires, deciding on our own to put an end to a life that is actually meant to live on?

Pondering over this, battling in mind over what’s right and wrong, I suddenly remember Paulo Coelho’s words from his book Like the Flowing River:

“…when something undesirable grows in my soul, I ask God to give me the same courage mercilessly to pluck it out.”

And when I recall, Satan – once an angel, was also God’s creation; this comes as a consolation to the battle raging within.

That which apparently seems beautiful and attractive may actually be undesirable and unacceptable, and may end up being an instrument of negativity. We need to identify such elements and simply pull them out of ourselves for the cleansing of the soul.

So finally I am at peace; weeds must be plucked out, souls must be purified.