Storms give trees deeper roots.
I was one of many teens introduced to this quote years ago. Our employer knew that the first-days-of-summer enthusiasm we all felt in June would wear off. We’d grow tired. Disillusioned. Bored. Restless. Life would throw unexpected (unwanted) circumstances our way and we would suffer. So they told us, right at the beginning: Storms make trees grow deeper roots. Prepare yourselves.
This is true about life, too, isn’t it? The sunny, innocent days of childhood give way to the turbulence of adolescence and then adulthood.
How many storms have you weathered? What are your roots like?
I’m not sure about mine. I read a blurb about roots in a devotional recently. Christine Eberle talks about her visit to The Burrens of Ireland, where the first glance might suggest a rocky, barren landscape, but closer scrutiny reveals wildflowers growing – scandalously – riotously – in the cracks. Everywhere. I googled this. Amazing.
Christine writes:
I was deeply moved by the abundance of life in such a bleak place. How were all these flowers being fed? The answer, of course, is pretty simple: it’s not the quantity, but the quality of nourishment that’s essential in the Burren. In other words, for that smidge of soil down in the grikes to support such life, it has to be one magnificent bit of dirt.
I thought about this a lot.
There are days when I feel like this flower. How am I surviving? To be honest with you, the bloom seems pretty delicate and fragile to me. But something is going on. That bright yellow against asphalt. Life in a place so adverse. The secret is in the dirt, isn’t it? What are the roots immersed in?
Do you lack energy? Time? Feel disconnected from faith and church and God? Does the thought of lengthy devotional readings or daily prayer or church seeking or finding a friend who is a person of faith overwhelm you?
Look at my flower and take heart. That’s you and me. We can thrive in the crack.
Figure out what magnificent little bit of dirt you need to thrive, and plunge your roots into it.
I can’t resist sharing this song with you. I discovered it a few hours ago. Did you read the Narnia books as a child? Then, if you listen long enough, you will like this song, no matter how odd it is!
