ROOTS DOWN DEEP
In my favourite part of Australia, we hiked one year along a dry riverbed in the Flinders Ranges. Magnificent gum trees stretched overhead, seemingly growing without water. Though there was no evidence of it above ground, we knew that underneath was the water table, a river that fed and sustained these gums through long periods of drought.
I’ve always regretted not photographing that long row of red river gums in dust of the Flinders. But occasionally, I’ve spotted a solo tree with its roots deep into nourishing water and captured the image. The one pictured above found underground water on a former Finke River tributary in the West MacDonnell Ranges. The riverbed and surrounding stones were dry enough for us to walk on as we gazed in wonder at the dramatic Standley Chasm further up the valley. Yet on the tree’s trunk were signs of new growth and obvious health.
Psalmist David spent many long years in a similar arid region. He must have seen trees flourishing like this in dry riverbeds. In Psalm 1, he compares a person delighting in God to a tree with its roots in an underground aquafer. It is a great metaphor to encourage us to go deep in our relationship with a God who loves and cares for us. Which makes me ask: Am I personally tapping into that source of life? Am I being sustained and nourished in our culture’s dry environment?
Spiritual water
Stan Grant in a book intended to reawaken us to the spiritual says, “We humans are more than our minds; we yearn for the divine. Cut off from the transcendent, we become miserable, reduced to fleeting entertainment and distraction because we have closed the door to eternity.” (Murriyang: Song of time)
In a discussion recently with a neighbour, I used this word spiritual, perhaps inadvisably. She asked me what it meant and I realised that for some people, it has dropped out of common parlance. The noun spirituality is used of course, but it has become all-encompassing. It gathers in everything from self-focussed meditative practices to exercising in nature to contemplating the stars, but without any acknowledgement of the Creator.
An incredible intimacy
We who have come home to God know our spiritual being involves more than our human body, as wonderful that is. And the spiritual is more than anything our own mind or spirit can generate. It is a personal relationship. We acknowledge this by saying to God in effect: “I have tried to run my own life. But now I want the deeper reality that is found with you. I accept with open hands your gift of true life.”
In my book about being Home with the Good Father, I call what then opens for us an incredible intimacy. We live and have our being deep in sacred territory through God the Holy Spirit who lives within and nourishes us.
Spiritual practices with intention
At a festival celebrating life-giving water in a desert, Jesus gave this invitation, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” Only as we tap into Jesus’ life-giving water can we be nourished and exhibit new growth. Like a tree with roots down deep. But responding to this invitation must be intentional because it also involves the emotions and actions of our body.
When I worked as a consultant town planner in the US, I often had to attend night meetings several hours away on an Interstate highway. Many times, I had to stop the car on the way home and wake myself up sufficiently in the cold air to complete the journey safely. Realising I was sleepy was lifesaving in the moment. But it required a concrete response, a discipline of listening and acting on the warning signs.
Today my sleep discipline is preventative, as well as in the moment. It includes a CPAP machine! That certainly took discipline to get used to! But intentional action is again a lifesaver – for my heart as well as my daytime functioning.
Our spiritual being also requires intention. To take us deep into the connection with God, one practise we must choose is solitude. When we are quiet, we become acquainted with our spiritual being and notice what is going on in our lives. We tap into Jesus’ nourishing water.
Resisting society pulling us apart
There is a further dimension to letting our roots go deep into God. We live in a society that tells us that all we need for personal well-being is found within ourselves. That is, in the self, you will find your reason for being, your identity, your comfort, your resources. You don’t need anybody else. And you certainly are not responsible for anybody else. Just you alone. You do you!
This diminishing of personal connection has the chilling effect of pulling us apart – not only cutting us off from our Creator, but also from each other. But when we go deep with our Good Father, we share life-giving water with brothers and sisters, and that is an act of resistance in our culture.
I for one want my roots deep in God. But rather than a solitary tree, I’d rather be connected to others – in a long line of red gum trees thriving in a spiritual desert and sharing the water.
Jennifer Turner
