I have a hard time keeping all my insects straight. I spot yet another one, half recognize it from a gardening book, but can’t recall whether it’s a pest or a beneficial insect… This happens often.
One of my latest posts likened a periodic garden bug check to a spiritual examination… It got me thinking. There are myriads of bugs out there but I tend to focus on one or two species at a time. The thrips in early spring. The Japanese beetles in June. The stink bugs all summer long. I am most effective at hand-picking pests off my plants when I go out with a specific target. For example, it’s June. Whenever I pass my rose bushes, I look for the dark, shiny shells of the Japanese beetles. When our blackberries are in season, I make at least one daily walk down the blackberry fence knocking stink bugs into my bucket of doom (soapy water).
Pin-Pointing a Specific Target
Well, I’ve been told that the same wisdom can be applied to the Examen prayer. We can’t very well look out for every sin every hour. Spiritual masters recommend focusing on one or a couple virtues or vices during a given season. Maybe pride has been butting it’s head up and disrupting your relationships. Make your Examen prayer a quick look for pride’s distinctive silhouette or damage in your day thus far. Do it with God and with his help. Knock those ugly moments into your soapy bucket of repentance, and ask the Lord to help you keep fighting that pest off. Thank him for his help and forgiveness and then move on with your day.
A Pest Identification Guide for the Soul
Another word from the gardening journey. I’ve found that my retention of pictures and written information is pretty weak. There’s an old saying that repetition is the mother of learning. It holds for math and it holds for bug-identification. The more often I study books with pictures of garden pests, the better I am able to identify them in the field. The same applies to spiritual pests. Need a good identification guide: try the Bible for starters! ☺️ For helpful descriptions of certain virtues or sins, try the Catholic Catechism.
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