Roots

We didn’t make it very far before we started seeing the damage. There was a tree, a massive one that looked as if it had survived all the decades of political and religious turmoil here in Ireland, now smashed to the ground with it’s roots exposed to the cold winter air. We were driving home from our small group study with our refugee friends at the castle. While in deep discussion, the electricity went out and the winds were blowing with a vicious force, and the driving rain was completely horizontal.

On our drive, the traffic soon came to a complete standstill. There were more trees down, this time blocking the road. The cars were being shaken by the force of the winds, and we turned on the news: “hurricane force winds, roads closed, flying debris, trucks overturned, building’s loosing roofs…” We looked to ditch that separated us from a nearby farm. It was now filled with fast flowing water with white rapids. After the road was cleared we saw more trees, uprooted.

Roots. It was a highlighted word, a common thread in last summer’s training. “Don’t neglect the roots”, the trainer would remind us as we dug deep into the parable of the sower in Matthew 13:1-9. This parable and lesson once again came to my mind as I see the rain and floods destroying the root systems. All it takes is a mighty gust of wind and even the seemingly strongest trees come falling down.

The most important part of our Christian experience is our roots. If our roots are shallow and choked out by the “rocks” and “weeds” in our lives or the soil is lacking in essential nutrients, our spiritual journey will in turn be shallow, and overtaken by the cares of the world and other things that we find more important.

From the outside, some may say we are like tall, strong trees tha are able to withstand even the worst weather.

However, others can’t see the roots- the deep inner part of our lives. Are your roots strong? What are you doing to strengthen them? The latest Irish storm has inspired me to be a strong tree: from the roots up.