Uprooted

 Trying to change my life patterns, I have begun walking the church grounds.  This particular tree has been part of the landscape I observe.  One of the strong winds that came our way this past year brought this large tree down.  What weakened its root structure remains unknown.  It may have been years of drought or disease.  The cause of its fall is known but what provided the opportunity for the wind to take this large tree down remains a mystery.  Its fall caused harm to the trees around it, some damage may prove fatal, but the spring will show us the new growth that signals healing. Soon the men of the church will come and carve away at the skeletal remains.  As I wonder about the circumstances that led to the trees demise, I realize that communities of faith are facing strong winds all around them.  If the community has suffered a spiritual drought or become diseased the winds of the world will uproot them as well. 

So I went to look at what it means to be uprooted.  I saw the stub of roots severed from their source of nourishment.  I felt the wrenching of the earth as the roots were lifted out of the ground and pulled until they snapped.  The complex system within the tree exposed to the harsh sun as it died and dried.  My sorrow for our loss of this tree grew as I thought of communities of faith that close their doors because they too have been uprooted, died, and dried up.  Then, I turned again to reflect on what God might be saying about being uprooted, that my focus may be all wrong.  What if the uprooted tree was not about a community that was torn asunder by the winds of the world, but instead the tree represented the deep rooted sin within the community.  What if the wind that blew the tree down was the Holy Spirit coming in to clear away disease.  What if the drought was the community's choice to stop nourishing their sin and nourish each other and those God sent them to serve.

So I looked again at the uprooted tree and in the brilliant light of God's love I saw beauty in the exposed roots.  I knew in the midst of the brokenness God's grace touched the places where the tree was ripped from the earth and its death held the promise of resurrection.   

One final thought about being uprooted.  When Jesus called his disciples, he said, "follow me."  It is hard to put down roots when we are called into a journey with Jesus.  Maybe the lesson of the uprooted tree is that I cannot continue to grow in my relationship with God without being willing to be uprooted and move.  Maybe the lesson of the uprooted tree for communities of faith is that we cannot continue to grow into being the Body of Christ without being willing to be uprooted and move into the world to share the story of God's love.

Allow joy, allow love, allow God,
One of Many