Rooted

“So, as you received Jesus Christ the Lord, walk in him, rooted in him and built upon him and established in the faith as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.” Colossians 2: 6-7

Where are you rooted? What is the foundation that you are building your life upon? For many people it is a career, or a relationship or success in athletics or music or even money and fame. We all want to be known and we all want to be successful because we figure that will make us happy. But everything depends on our roots.

Our roots first begin in our families. Some of us come from good families and some do not. Some of us come from unified families and some of us come from broken families. Some of us are close to our families and some of us are estranged from our families. No family is perfect and no one, no matter how skewered their memories, had a perfect childhood. Most importantly, some of us came from a background of faith and some of us didn’t. The reality is that the family we grow up in, for good or for bad, has a huge impact on shaping the way we think, feel, act and react to the world around us. But you know what? Our family is not ultimately supposed to be what we are rooted in and even if our growing-up years were less than perfect, we can be “transplanted” and start to sink our roots into things that will last.

How do we do this? First of all we have to realize that where we sink our roots will determine how we grow and develop as a person and will dictate our level of happiness or lack thereof. If we sink our roots into things that are shallow and meaningless we will not have much growth and we will not be happy. But if we can find things that are rich and filled with lasting Truth and beauty to sink our roots into, we will find growth and happiness.

Of course the obvious reality is that we need to sink our roots into Jesus. But how is this done? First of all, we need to be in the Church, because the Church is the Body of Christ. The Church brings us nourishment and grace through the power of Christ in the sacraments. Second, we need to read Scripture. We need to become familiar with the God of the Bible and let His Word dwell in us richly. Third, we need to talk to the Lord and listen to Him speak to us each day. This is called prayer. We need prayer to be in relationship with Jesus, to stay intimately connected with Him. Fourth, we need to spend our time and energy on things that bring us deeper into the mystery of Christ: music that edifies our souls, art and drama that cause us to seek Truth, being in nature and partaking of the wonders of the Lord’s creation, spending time doing the hard work of building good, loving relationships with our families and finally, seeking ways to serve others each day.

But so often we spend our time wasting our lives on entertainment, partying, fighting, trying to advance in some way or form in the riches and fame of this world. For what? I recently heard a famous actor say that “fame is obscurity biding its time”. And so many people are sinking their roots into things that will ultimately leave them lonely and obscure. Let’s instead sink our roots deep in Christ so that our lives can be fulfilled and brought to completion in eternity with the Lord.

Dear Jesus, help me be rooted in You so that my life can flourish and I can grow in holiness and become the person You are calling me to be. Amen.