AT THE WATER’S EDGE:

I have an enemy. An enemy encroaching on my territory and trying to take over. Poisoning those within reach and advancing position every time I look. My enemy’s name? Alliaria petiolata. Otherwise known as: garlic mustard. As one of my aunts once put it, with a name like that, it’s no wonder it’s an invasive, noxious weed (for context, almost my entire dad’s side of the family hates mustard with a passion). But truly, it can release chemicals in the ground that can prevent other plants from growing. Like I said, it’s an enemy. An enemy to every native plant in our woods and really an enemy to the entire ecosystem, threatening the biodiversity of our woods. To eradicate it, it’s said to pull it up, bag it and throw it away. Of course, the plant is edible so if you want to bite back… you can.

As I was pulling up bagfulls of garlic mustard this spring, I realized that I need to plant something else in its place or it’s going to be really easy for it to come right back — or worse. In the area that I pulled out the most garlic mustard last year I found a plant I didn’t recall seeing before. Upon investigation, it’s another invasive weed, but this one much harder to dig up, with deep roots. Uh-oh. Did I just dig up one awful weed only to have it replaced by something worse?

As I stood there in my freshly weeded patch of land, cleaning out sticks, raking the leaves and exposing nice, rich soil, it reminded me of a Bible passage:

“When an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that person is worse than the first.”

‭‭Luke‬ ‭11‬:‭24‬-‭26‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Just as simply clearing out my land will open it up to even more weeds, so when we find ourselves temporarily free from some evil — be it a sin pattern, bad habit or whatever we were bound by — but do not replace it with something good, we invite more evil back in. Sweeping out the bad, without inviting in the good to take its place, may in fact bring you to a worse place in the end.

As for my woods, I found some bulk native wildflower seeds, including a woodland edge mixture, that I thought would be perfect to try to grow. My woods really seem to lack biodiversity as several invasive species have engaged in hostile takeovers. I’m hoping to add beauty and diversity, to create a richer ecosystem and of course some cut flowers would be nice! I’m hoping one area will be able to turn into a small meadow patch at the top of the wooded hill and the other spaces will help turn the woods back to a native natural landscape. I sowed enough seed that I’m hopeful I’ll have a high enough germination rate to fill in the empty spaces with something good.

So what does sowing good things into our own lives look like? For me, I’ve been able to add a Bible study group back in this year, am working on some better Scripture and prayer habits, and making time for things that energize me. In my thought life, I’m trying to focus on the good instead of the negative, because when my thoughts are full of good things, there’s not room for the worry or anxiety that negativity breeds.

What about in your life? What good things are you adding in to fill the voids? How are you inviting beauty and goodness in?