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Today's
Meditation:
Roots
provide a solid base upon which a tree can grow to its
full potential. If we completely reject the things of
our past-- our experiences, our education, our friendships
and other relationships, even many of our possessions--
then we're casting them off, leaving
ourselves without that base that can give us stability and
balance in our lives.
I bought a bike once, over three decades ago. That
bike still is with me in the form of an important lesson
that I learned-- I bought it because it was the cheapest I
could find, and I was short on money. Unfortunately,
it was a horrible buy, and within two weeks I had to buy
another, new bike. Instead of getting a great deal
on a used bike, I ended up paying for a new bike AND a
used bike that I wasn't able to sell myself. And I
learned the importance of the adage, "You get what
you pay for."
I've learned in relationships, and if I choose to
completely forget those relationships, then I also choose
to forget what I got out of them in the form of learning
and development of myself as a person. I also choose
to forget what I gave to them, and the kinds of good,
positive things that I put into them. If I want to
develop as a person, it does me good to have strong roots
that will keep me steady and balanced and that will allow
me to bend in the wind of the life storms that sometimes
turn the life I have into a difficult trial that I need to
get through.
So I may not be comfortable with my religion as I know it
or my relationships or my education or the ways that I
treat others, but that doesn't mean that I have to reject
them out of hand and cast them away. Sometimes that
may actually be the best strategy, but usually we need
just to adjust, using the things that we wish to change as
the base for a new direction, as new roots from which we
will draw life as we grow taller and stronger.
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