The previous owners of my house planted four of what I think is blue fescue in the front flowerbeds. DH once remarked that the fescues remind him of the Fry Guys from the McDonald’s commercials. We’ve hated them since we moved in years ago, but until now we’ve mostly been ignoring the fescues. Once in awhile I have a fit of pique wherein I attack them with the weedwhacker.
The Fry Guys, with Birdie the Early Bird in the background.
This year, I decided enough was enough and I was going to get rid of the fescues. I had an idea; a wonderful, awful idea! After one of the aforementioned fits of pique, the leaves of the fescues were less than inch long. I decided to cover up the blue fescues with paper, then soil, then mulch, which would cut it off from the sun and then it would eventually die and rot away and I could plant something decent there.
Now, this method works in some situations, but blue fescue is a persistent little bugger. Despite everything I did to it, the blue fescue managed to poke through the paper, dirt, and mulch. I fully uncovered the plants and realized that not only were they still alive, they were easily twice the size they were before. Enough was enough, and I meant it this time. I hauled out the shovel and dug the fescues up, roots and all, and chucked them in the compost pile where they belong.
As I was digging, it occurred to me that the fescues were like sin. You can’t just attack sin vigorously a few times a year and otherwise ignore it. You can’t just cover sin up and hope it’ll go away. In both cases, it comes back, bigger and nastier than before (and maybe with a few snails attached). You have to dig it up from its roots (Confession) and throw it out (prayer). Sin does not back down easily. Neither should we.
“Return, O Israel, to the LORD, your God; you have collapsed through your guilt. Take with you words, and return to the LORD; Say to him, “Forgive all iniquity, and receive what is good, that we may render as offerings the bullocks from our stalls.” – Hosea 14:2-3
here from TCIE’s blogger biographies – and this is a great post – your comparison really speaks to me. As soon as I think that one sinful area is basically down to the ground, it quietly sprouts up unobserved until I have another big issue with it. Sometimes it is so very discouraging to feel that I am back to the beginning again.
My DH is uncertain, possibly agnostic, and I have really felt more and more called into my Catholic faith these last few years, so I feel we have some common experiences in that way.
Hey! I just stumbled across you blog and realized we are on your blogroll! Crazy!
Anyway, I have never dealt with fescues, and I generally have more success killing plants than keeping them alive but I like the sin analogy. It reminds me of that parable where sometimes the seed of the word of God falls on brambles….