Month: July 2017

Spiritual Lessons From A Backyard Forest Of Weeds?

The backyard of my neighbor that’s directly next to my driveway has really bothering me as of late. It hasn’t been cut once this summer and is actually just a huge forest of weeds that grows worse every day. And I do mean forest, as there isn’t a single blade of grass back there. Instead, it’s filled with huge stalks of strange things where some of them are almost as tall as I am, which is 6’5”.

Ironically, I dealt with a similar situation just last summer with my neighbor across the street where I was quite successful in letting that situation go. But given that this time it’s a yard that’s directly next to where I live, and given that I see this forest every time I walk outside onto my driveway and water my hanging baskets, I’m struggling a lot more to let this one go.

In fact, I must have asked my neighbor at least a half of dozen times already when he plans on cutting it and his answer is always the same. He says he’ll be doing it later in the week, but each week he says that, it never gets done. The other day I even went so far as to ask if he wanted me to “Round Up” his entire backyard, which meant killing everything growing there, seeing how it’s only filled with weeds. His response to that was no different in that he planned on taking care of it later this week.

UGH!!!

Of course, I can completely see my control issues flaring here, which is why I’ve been resorting to prayer over this. I’ve asked God many times for my neighbor to find the willingness to clean his backyard up, but so far that prayer hasn’t been answered, which got me wondering, maybe it hasn’t been taken care of yet because God wants me to see a spiritual lesson or two in it?

One spiritual lesson I already know, that being the one about letting go and having acceptance, as the only reason why I want to take control of this overgrown yard is simply due to my lack of control in my ongoing state of health.

But another spiritual lesson came to me today as I pondered why this yard has been getting to me so much and it dealt with what Jesus might think if He was standing directly next to me on my driveway gazing onto it. Somehow, I think He might actually say something like this.

“Look at this magnificent creation! So many vibrant colors. Each all growing out of a yard without any water to depend on except from the sky. A feast for so many of God’s creatures to snack on. Such a beautiful display, don’t you agree Andrew?”

And of course, given the state I’ve been in lately with my health and wanting to take control somewhere, I’d probably say something along the lines like this.

“All I see is a dam pile of weeds that are ugly and invasive and slowly making their way into my yard. Can’t you just wave your hand and get rid of them Jesus?!”

 So yes, I see not one, but two spiritual lessons coming from something as simple as my neighbor’s backyard, as much as I don’t want to admit it.

That’s why I decided I’m going to change my prayers about this situation to one of letting go and acceptance. But I’m also going to pray for something else as well. I’m going to pray that I start seeing the beauty in all things, even in those things that my ego often tends to write off as ugly like my neighbor’s backyard. I’m sure in doing so, I stand a far better chance of walking out onto my driveway one day and experiencing peace and joy, even if my neighbor chooses to never take care of his forest of weeds…

Peace, love, light, and joy,
Andrew Arthur Dawson

Daily Reflection

“Most humans are never fully present in the now, because unconsciously they believe that the next moment must be more important than this one. But then you miss your whole life, which is never not now.” (Eckhart Tolle)

I fully believe that a true friend is someone who acknowledges not only the positive aspects of myself, but also any negative ones that are potentially hurting either our relationship, them, or even me. Jeff A. and Michael E. from Toledo, are two of those very people who were honest enough to tell me just recently that while they’ve seen me spiritually grow quite a bit over the past few years, that I’ve still been doing one specific behavior that’s bothered them, that being spending more time on my phone than actually engaged with them when we’ve been together.

And you know what? They’re right.

I do spend WAY TOO MUCH TIME on my phone when I hang out with friends.

If I’m not responding to text messages that come in, I’m surfing the web for an answer to something I’m thinking about. And if I’m not surfing the Internet for an answer to something I’m thinking about, I’m reading and responding to emails. And if I’m not reading and responding to emails, I’m answering or making a phone call to someone else.

Yet when doing any of that, I’m not being fully present with my friends, like I wasn’t being with Jeff and Michael, who were thankfully close enough to tell me how much it was really starting to bother them. And I totally agree, because I’m REALLY bothered anytime I’m out with someone I consider to be a friend when they do the very same thing with their cell phones. I had a conversation in fact, with my friend Frank a few months ago when I felt the hour and a half we spent bi-weekly dining together was occupied more by his phone than with us. Little did I realize he was just another mirror for a behavior I was still refusing to see within myself.

It truly has become a bad habit and one that originated with my business of life. My justification of doing it began with the notion that I wanted my free time to be just that, my free time. Time where I wasn’t texting, phone calling, or surfing the Internet. So, I started handling anything that came in on my Smart phone as soon as it arrived, regardless of who I was with at the time, solely so that I didn’t have to do it later when I was on my own downtime.

How rude and self-centered is that? A lot! And I see that pretty clearly now, which is why I plan on working on turning my cell phone to silent and keeping it in its holster from now on each time I’m hanging out with friends because you know what? They truly deserve my full attention.

I pray I may always remain present with each of the friends I spend time with by remembering that they deserve my full attention and that everything else vying for my attention can wait until a little later.

Peace, love, light, and joy,
Andrew Arthur Dawson