I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he 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. I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Ephesians 3:16-19 (NRSV)
As Christians, we want to be deeply rooted and grounded in Christ. We want to stay connected to the vine and produce good fruit. What we often miss is that growing deeper roots and producing good fruit is not something we can do in our own strength.
Notice Paul’s prayer to the church in Ephesus. He doesn’t pray for them to strengthen their roots. He prays that the Spirit of Christ will dwell in them and give them strength as they are being rooted and grounded in love. Our growth is an act of pure grace. We are “being rooted and grounded in love.”
Rooting is a long process. Deep roots don’t grow overnight. In fact, many roots don’t go “deep” at all. There is an entire field of agriculture called “aeroponics” in which wonderfully healthy plants grow with their roots hanging in midair as they are regularly sprayed with a refreshing mist of water and nutrients.
“Roots grow when the environment supplies nutrients, oxygen, warmth, and water. Tree roots do not have a predetermined growth pattern, they grow in an opportunistic manner when the environment is right.”[1]
If you’ve ever seen tree roots breaking up through a sidewalk or jutting out of the ground over a creek bed, you know that growing roots is not a problem. Roots grow. That’s what they do. And they will grow against almost any obstacle, so long as their environment supplies the nutrients, oxygen, warmth, and water they need.
Maybe your roots are deep. Maybe they are hovering above the surface of the water. Maybe they are fighting to break through layers of asphalt and concrete. Maybe they are hanging in mid-air. No matter how your roots are growing, it is OK, because God is providing the nutrients you need to keep growing, to be rooted and grounded in love.
If your roots feel dry, thirsty, wounded, or stagnant, look at your ecosystem. Are the other plants and trees around you healthy or dying? As a tree’s roots meet the roots of other trees, they begin to grow or “graft” together into one larger, stronger, and healthier root system. This allows the root system to reach out further, working together to collect water and nutrients and offering mutual benefit to every tree in the network.
We come together as a spiritual ecosystem in which every tree is reaching out through the Spirit for the nutrients we need and then sharing all that God provides for the mutual benefit and nourishment of one another. Thank God today for the ecosystem supporting your growth. Reflect on the ways you benefit from that ecosystem and the ways you are contributing to the growth of others through it.
For Reflection:
Thank God today for the ecosystem supporting your growth.
Reflect on the ways you benefit from that ecosystem and the ways you are contributing to the growth of others through it.
If you are feeling detached, ask God where you might find the hospitality of a healthy spiritual ecosystem to nourish you and support your growth.
How is God calling you to offer hospitality and nourishment to someone else?
What is God’s invitation to you this week?
May you “take in with all followers of Jesus the extravagant dimensions of Christ’s love. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! Live full lives, full in the fullness of God!” (Eph. 3:19, MSG). Amen.
“The contemplative life cannot be justified. In terms of what it produces, what it achieves… it is of no use whatsoever…
Perhaps it can be compared to ecology - forests are necessary to the world, just to stand where they are; by their mere existence they keep the air pure and breathable.
So [the contemplative] stands before God for the life of the world. And the strange thing is, that such "trees" rarely remain alone they grow in groups, in communities.”
- Fr. Basil Pennington, Contemplative Community
[1] https://www.thetreecareguide.com/tree-health-how-roots-grow/. Take some time to prayerfully read this excerpt on how roots grow, and how their growth is hindered. I believe you will find many other ways this natural process resonates with your own spiritual growth as you continue to be rooted and grounded in love.