- What are the 3 basic things that roots do in the life of a tree?
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- Anchor us
- Nourish us
- Connect us to each other.
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- Forests have a more complicated ecosystem than we realize
- Roots are the point of contact, almost a nervous system for a forest
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- To grow and evolve, we need roots that establish a firm foundation. Circumstances will change, so we need solid roots to keep us alive and blossoming wherever we are.
- There are risks of being not grounded and being untethered. We don’t function well without being rooted, so we might get lost and look for anything to ground us. Roots are what anchor us when things get shaken up.
- The paradox of our lives in Christ is that there is great freedom in belonging. There is great freedom in following. The danger comes when we decide we want our own way.
- We can get lost and think we want to be able to go and move and do as we wish and serve our own lives, but being a person is to be motivated by what serves those we belong to…our Lord and each other.
- People thrive when there’s a routine that feeds them and a community that supports them. When living in the flow of a community, we actually have the safety to live into who we are! Because we’re being held and lifted up by each other.
- The trick about the freedom we have as persons is: What is the motivation behind what you choose? God chose us without it depending on us choosing Him back. That’s love. So the question is: What does it mean to choose him back? It means we actually live into what it is to be a person.
- You are a person. You know what that means because Jesus became a person. Being a person allows us to embrace what is black and white, as well as what is gray.
- A person is one who…
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- is merciful.
- responds when they are called or sent.
- forgives and repents.
- is a peacemaker.
- allows others to elevate them and never elevates themselves.
- has such deep compassion for others that you want to feed the person that stole your bread.
- exists in community in some form.
- doesn’t want their own way.
- turns their will towards God’s will
- pursues first the Kingdom of God because it’s been offered by the God who breathed life into Him.
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- A person also suffers, feels pain, messes up, and keeps going.
- Now you, as a unique person, bring out the beautiful gray. How do you make peace? How do you elevate others? What community are you accountable to? In what ways do you love and serve?
- As we walk through life we discover the gray of our own unique personhood in light of belonging to the Lord and each other. This starts with the rocky road we travel as we pursue the black and white of what it is to be a person.
– Katrina Bitar, Director of YES and Local Initiatives