H was telling me about a tree outside her apartment building. The tree had a good start because for many years, the eaves trough drained right at its base. It quickly surpassed the other newly planted trees in size. The drain was moved, cutting off the water supply. The heat has caused all the leaves to shrivel and dry up while the smaller trees are doing okay. I wondered if the generous supply of surface water meant the roots hadn't gone deep enough for the tree to weather the blistering heat.
It's got me thinking about the small but ancient trees we saw in Algonquin. The roots wrapped around the granite cliffs seeking any tiny, dirt filled crack in the solid face. Hair like roots thickened, prying the cracks apart so more life giving soil and water could enter in. Between the expansion of the roots and the water freezing, some of the cracks were larger crevices filled with decaying leaves. Nature's compost not only fed the trees but it held the miniscule amounts of earth in place so the cycle could continue.
I image there were years the tree didn't grow at all but simply survived a hard and challenging season.
Which has me thinking about church and faith.
Christ is the rock, not the church. The church is merely a crevice. Still, it is needed for me to survive as a Christian. It is an opportunity to grow my roots deeper into the rock. If that means being challenged by circumstances, so be it. It's a place to receive Holy Communion, the partaking of the blood and body of Jesus, which is extremely important to me as a way of connecting. As for the sermons, this may merely be a famine season. Reach, roots, reach!
Are trees patient?
The coming of September helps. My Bible study group will be starting again and my writer's group as well. I've missed these opportunities to gather together with like minds. They are the nooks and crannies that help fill my soul with the love and knowledge of Christ.
"Therefore having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, though whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope." Rom 5:1-4
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