True Roots

"At Water's Edge"  copyright 2011, C. Schroeder, All Rights Reserved

Many of us feel a deep sense of connection to "place."  Some of us were born in the place, some of us came to it later in life.  The passing seasons, the changes, the losses and the joys, the successes and failures are all tied up in the package of place.  The landscape becomes the literal landscape of our lives. This photo will remind me of the many walks I have taken in this place, the troubles, the joys, the friendships which it has brought to me. 

Place can be a wonderful thing, but our deepest roots should be in God's grace and love.  Then we'll be like the tree planted at the water's edge.  We will have what we need to flourish in our lives, to grow into our full potential.  We can't be uprooted when we immerse ourselves in the landscape of the Spirit.  Even if we are flung to the far reaches of this planet, to places which are strange and unfamiliar to us.  God is immovable.  God's presence permeates everything in this world.  So if we are rooted there, it doesn't matter where we are.  We have what we need.  And we can allow ourselves to go where God leads. 

It took a 40 year walk in the wilderness for the Israelites to begin to understand that fact.  If they had moved right into the promised land, their dependence would be upon something other than God.  But because their roots, their identity, their strength was in the Eternal and Loving God, the material gifts were just that.  Material.  Temporary.