Deep Roots

Curious and just a little excited, we stepped up and placed our ears tight against the smooth bark of the lonely tree. On top of a plateau in the middle of the outback in an area where trees are scarce, stood a healthy tree full of leaves. As a hush swept over the group, each of us picked up on the sound we were hoping for... a rushing, gurgling, joyful water-over-rocks kind of noise. With no river in sight, the guide told us how this tree had roots so deep, they connected with the river at the bottom of a nearby canyon. Just as placing your ear on the metal rails of a railroad track allows you to hear the train coming from miles away, so too, placing our ears on the tree let us hear the river so far below us. And those deep roots allowed life to flourish even amidst a drought.

Sometimes, I feel like a tree with shallow roots. Sure, there's living water nearby that I'm feeding off of, but what happens in a drought? Do my roots run deep enough? Am I growing deeper and stronger as I should? Do others come along and hear the water through me? Or just deep silence?