Just Keep Tending

In the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares, the Lord commands His servant to keep tending to the crops even after they discover that the wheat has been sown with tares. I can imagine every time the servant was out in the field his fingers itched to start ripping up the tares. It must have been really hard to trust in the wisdom of his master and just keep tending the crops. We may often have righteous desires to cultivate our own gifts of the spirit or to try to make positive changes in the world around us. But when we make such efforts and we notice all of the tares, all of our own weaknesses and flaws, or all of the intractable problems in society that no one seems to care about solving, we may be tempted to write the whole thing off. What is the point of trying to be a better parent if it seems like every single time we try to really and truly be attentive to our child then five minutes in we are either bored out of our skull or else pissed off? What is the point of trying to quit smoking when it seems like every single time we pass someone on the street with a lit cigarette we know we're going to make a beeline for the nearest seven eleven? What is the point of trying to lose weight when it seems like every single time we know that three days after starting a new diet or joining a new gym we're going to give up again? Why should we bother tending to the crops when there are so many tares? If we want to develop our strengths and our gifts and our talents, if we want to make the world a better place, we have to become comfortable with the reality that our flaws and our weaknesses, our fears and our doubts and our shortcomings will remain with us long after we might wish or hope. We have to acknowledge that it is possible to grow our faith in spite of our doubt not disappearing. We have to acknowledge that it is possible to grow stronger in spite of our weaknesses not disappearing. We have to acknowledge that we can make meaningful progress even as we are shrouded in depression. We can grow kinder even as we continue to lose our temper. We can grow wiser even as we continue to make stupid mistakes. We can grow more compassionate even as we continue to struggle with judging people or gossiping. The tares in our life may make us want to tear our hair out in frustration. The tares in our life may bring us to tears. But if we can have the faith and the patience and the trust in God's ineffable wisdom to just keep tending to our goals and our dreams and our hopes and let Him sort out the tares in His own due time, then we can grow so much as a person and cause the world around us to grow so much more beautiful in spite of the ugly tares that we haven't managed to get rid of just yet. We should never let our weaknesses become the excuse that stops us from becoming stronger. We should never let our ugliness become the excuse that stops us from becoming more beautiful. We should never let our imperfections become the excuse that stops us from becoming more perfect. If sometimes it seems like we've got just a single blade of wheat and a whole field of tares, just keep tending. It will get better.