While walking down the lane to Holy Trinity Church where C.S. Lewis is buried, this house caught my attention. It looked creepy. I wish I could come up with a better English word for the feeling I experienced when I saw it, but I can’t. The more I stared at it, the more I wanted to back away. Then I realized the people who owned it actually had cleaned away last year’s dead growth. But instead of removing the intruding vines, they had simply trimmed them back for the winter!

Since it was May, everything was beginning to grow again, and I could only imagine at what speed. Personal experience has taught me that even Wisteria—as lovely as it is—can claim a house, a lot, a block, and a neighborhood (well maybe not an entire neighborhood; I’m a writer remember) without making a sound. It invades, and if not checked, it will soon take over. I believe we allow the same thing to happen in our lives when we do not prevent the vines of jealously, greed, anger, lust, envy, and much more from growing within our hearts. By summer’s end, I’m sure this wall was, once again, covered—and the hope of receiving any bright light through these windows had faded. The Apostle Paul asks, “Who will set me free?” To that question he answers, “Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7:24-25)

Pin It