In our epistle, Paul speaks of being rooted in Christ Jesus. That organic metaphor brings to mind a recent experience I had while reading Mark Nepo’s 7000 Ways to Listen for our Stone Soup Book Group. He suggested (p.21) that we come up with an image of our relationship with the whole of life. The picture that came to me was my life being rooted in God, our Source, the very ground of our being. I, who am not known for my artistic ability, felt inspired to draw my image, and as I put pen to paper, more details came. It became circular as the ground of our being became the encircling presence of God enfolding the entire cosmos. Inside the circle, humanity, along with all creation, stood sending deep roots down into the ground of our being. I found it revealing; I offer the exercise to you as you consider what it means for you to be rooted in Christ Jesus.

Who can think of being rooted in the Divine without being reminded of Jesus’ parable of the sower (Mt.13:3-9, Mk.4:3-9, 14-20, Lk.8:5-8,11-15)? You remember the story where the sower broadcasts his seed widely with some hitting the path outside the field. Some landing on stony ground, some among the thorns, and some on good soil which produced an abundant yield. We all have patches of those soils in our hearts so if and when we are ready to become rooted in Christ, it behooves us to dig out the rocks and thorns and till the good soil to make it receptive to God’s seeds. We can’t stop there, of course. It takes continual care for us to grow deep roots, to grow and become fruitful in love, and, keeping in mind Jesus’ message of the vine and vinegrower, to accept pruning in order to bear more fruit (Jn.15:2).

Growing strong roots takes commitment, time and attention, faithfulness and persistence if we want to take our part in the body of Christ that “grows with a growth that is from God.” It is up to us to “ask,” “search,” and “knock” to get the fertilized we need to be rooted in Christ.