Rooted and Grounded in Love

I pray that, according to the riches of his glory,

God may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit

and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith,

as you are being rooted and grounded in love.

Ephesians 3:16

Dear Friends,

Yesterday, Laura and I hiked through the Muir Woods Monument here in California. Though “monument” is a little misleading, Muir Woods is a preserve for the Coastal Redwood trees. These trees are the tallest living things on earth and some are as old as 800 years old. As we walked through them, I was humbled by their size and age. My mind started pondering a question, What does it take to become a spiritual redwood? 

Coming from an engineering background, I immediately began wondering about the kind of support structure it takes to keep these tall trees standing. I know that many tall trees have large tap roots that go deep in the ground that allow the trees to stay standing. These coastal redwoods, however, have very shallow but extensive root systems that spread up to 30 metres out from the tree. This is only a part of the story, though… Because they grow rather densely in the forest, the roots from all the trees intertwine to create a very stable support structure.

Rule #1: To be a spiritual redwood, spread your roots wide and be connected and supported by other spiritual redwoods!

One of the other things that is noticeable about the redwoods is that one will often find them arranged in rings of 5-6 trees (all very tall!). These are called “fairy rings.” Even though these trees put out over 100,000 seeds a year, the germination rate is very low. Most successful trees grow from sprouts that form at the base of existing trees. These trees grow up around the original tree. When the original tree dies, then the ring of trees is left.

Rule #2: To be a spiritual redwood, freely give of yourself and provide shelter and support to those around you who are not as far along on their faith journey!

Living the faithful life does not mean that we will live for hundreds of years on this earth or physically tower over others but the love and relationships that we create here on earth are what really last. May you be rooted and grounded in love and grow to be the magnificent creation God desires you to be!

Peace,

Pastor Phil