I Want to Be a Weed

The people that occupied the house we live in before us were...how shall I say this...somewhat negligent when it came to caring for the yard.  If not taking proper care of your lawn were a crime they would be serving a life sentence.  With no chance for parole.  Ever.  There are weeds everywhere.  In the flower beds, in the bushes, under the trees and all throughout the yard.  While I have not conducted a scientific survey I am sure there are more weeds in the yard than grass.  Somewhere, Frederick Olmsted, the great landscape architect, is rolling over in his grave.
I do have to give the previous occupants some credit though.  What they lacked in concern about weeds they easily made up for it their apparent love of weed diversity.  Surrounding our house is a virtual United Nations of weeds.  You name it, we have it.  Every shape and size, color and texture can be found in our quarter acre of weed heaven. 
Sadly, I do not share their love of weeds.  I respect weeds unbelievable ability to multiply at the drop of a hat (even rabbits are jealous).  I am in awe of their capacity to muscle out other plants and take over a yard in less than a season (even the Mob is envious).  But I don't like them.  They wreak too much havoc, are too difficult to control and some of them are down right painful to touch.
As I was gazing upon the weed wonderland that I call a yard it occurred to me, as it has to many a great thinker who has plumbed the intellectual depths of weeds, that they are a lot like the negative things in our lives.  Fear, greed, hatred, anxiety, envy - each requires just a little foothold in souls and soon there is room for nothing else.  These emotions spread quickly, take up all of our time and energy, and they turn our lives into ugly messes.
Still, I wonder if weeds are getting a bad rap.  Is it not possible that positive emotions - love, happiness, generosity, hope - can also be like weeds? Why don't we ever compare these attitudes to those plants that can thrive on very little, transform not only your life/yard but that of your neighbor, and keep coming back no matter how hard we try to get rid of them?  Why can't we call the best things in life weeds?  Because Lord knows our society treat them like they were weeds.
Think about it.  Our culture (including politicians and the media of both the left and the right) teaches us to work very hard at uprooting the positive attitudes in our lives and the lives of others.  We are uncomfortable spending too much time with folks who are always happy (especially if they are happy first thing in the morning.  These folks are not only annoying, they are possessed).  We label those who are overly generous "naive."  If your life is defined by unconditional love we call you a hopeless romantic and a sucker.  And woe to the one who always hopes.  They are dreamers and unrealistic.  Be honest, we don't want our lives filled with too many of these positive traits.  We treat them like weeds.  We put a lot of time  in trying to eradicate them from our lives.  Just like we are taught.
What if we just let the weeds do their thing and grow.  Instead of trying to make our lives look like a manicured lawn how about letting the weeds of joy and happiness and love and hope overrun everything. That is what Jesus did.  Granted, he was treated like a weed, but guess what - there is nothing stronger, more resilient and just plain beautiful as love, hope and happiness.  Try as we might we can't control them.  They are contagious and unpredictable, just like weeds.  And they are from God.
I will go you one better.  I want to be a weed, to spread all that is good and wonderful into the lives of other people.  I know, not everyone will appreciate me or what I am doing.  Like Jesus, I may suffer the same fate as most weeds.  But that is ok.  Because like a weed Jesus keeps coming back with more love and hope and happiness.  I want to be like that.  I want to be a weed.