Your Roots Are Showing

The hydrangeas are beginning to bloom in our part of the world. This is the best they will look all summer. By the time fall comes around, the heat and scorching sun will take their toll.

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ISO125 114mm f4 1/30s

Hydrangeas are fascinating plants. They bloom pink in alkaline soil. Blue flowers indicate a more acidic pH. It's like litmus paper in chemistry class, only reversed. Soil acidity isn't the whole picture. What turns the flowers blue is the presence of free aluminum. In alkaline soil, aluminum is chemically bound and unavailable to plants. But in acidic soil, the aluminum is available in a form the plants can use.

My presentation to others says a lot about where I am rooted. It helps for me to be immersed in good religion, to be taught right and wrong, and to be grafted into the traditions of Christianity and Judaism. But, as one seminary professor once told me, "Some of the meanest people in the world go to church." Without an awareness of God's presence and a relational connection to him, good teaching and religious activity can't help me in my actual lived life.

To Jewish leaders, Jesus said, "You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life." (John 5:39-40) The life that I bring to the world can only be found in my attachment to Christ. His presence with me is the essential nutrient.

The Ponds are Low

Ponds dry up. Forests and fields turn to tinder. It's easy to miss when the weather's so nice. It's happened to my soul, too. During a fruitful season of life, I neglected time with God. I ran dry. One spark exposed my weakness, and I didn't see it coming. Stay hydrated.

Bewilderness

It was the end of a November day that had started well before dawn, frosty and moon-shadowed. I was a teen boy outdoors in the Appalachian forests and fields with my father, uncle, and one of their buddies. Now, several hours later, darkness was settling back in. And I was lost. I knew the woods well but had crossed the wrong ridge, and nothing looked familiar. A dog barked in a distant hollow below. Truck tires crunched on a gravel road far away. The woods were peaceful, but I was getting a little panicked. I backtracked, crossed the correct ridge, and returned to safety. Once I recognized the familiar, I settled down and could navigate the right path.

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Life is like this. There are a lot of uncertainties. Today, some in my family are facing employment questions. Others are dealing with health issues. Add to these the crosswinds in society. It's unsettling.

Bewildering events remind me to practice the primary spiritual discipline of finding Jesus. Throughout the Gospel narratives, Jesus slips away from people's notice. His parents lost track of him when he stayed behind in the synagogue. Jesus escaped crowds who wanted to make him king or to find a place of solitude with the Father. Outside his tomb, he appeared as a gardener. On the way to Emmaus, he looked like an uninformed traveler. He may even be disguised as the poor, marginalized, hungry, thirsty, or unsheltered. To feel secure and properly oriented, I need to find him. That's always my first task when I am in the wilderness. He might calm the tempest. But even if the storms continue to rage, he will be a secure foundation, provided I remain. Jesus never really leaves. He never forsakes. He's probably looking for me, too. So, where is Jesus?