Tap Roots

When I was little, people used to say that I was growing like a weed. I think it's more like a tree. I started from a tiny seed in my mother's womb, grew until I could breathe on my own and was then planted in a family. Every day I was fed and nurtured so that I could grow taller and stronger, like a tree. Most of the time my growth was imperceptibly slow, but sometimes I grew quickly and noticeably. Now, I do not get taller but I do grow stronger each year as I weather the challenges in my life. What I am wondering is, what is it that has caused me to grow stronger, when I could have easily been blown over in the storms?

Some years ago, I witnessed a terrible storm. The damage from the fierce winds was dreadful, but the most surprising thing was seeing huge trees, some of them fifteen feet around, laying flat on the ground. When I asked someone why these great trees with their massive trunks could not withstand the sudden and strong wind, his answer surprised me. He said that the trees had plenty of water every day. That, he said, was the reason why they could not endure the wind. Hmm. It didn't make sense to me. Then he explained. When the trees had water every day, (a condition suited more to the grass than to the trees) they had no reason to send down deep tap roots to find water. They got all they needed for their huge leafy canopy right on the surface. The root system had no reason to develop strong tap roots when there was such an abundance of water close by.

The obvious question I began to ask myself was, “Do I have a reason to send down tap roots? If so, what are those roots and what are they looking for?” As I examined my life and the lives of people I knew, I discovered that there were people who were being blown over by the winds of adversity and there were also people who were still standing, enduring. The word 'endure' has reference to a tree. It means to grow harder, stronger. Integrity means almost the same thing. I discovered that there were people who looked like they were strong but only on the surface. And, like the trees, they even had many years of experience but apparently had never sent down tap roots. So when the storms of life finally reached them, they didn't have the strength to stand against it.

For over two hundred years this country has been one of the most prosperous countries in the world. All you have to do is to travel abroad and it becomes clear that we have much to be thankful for. However, like the trees, if we have all that we need, in abundance, the danger is that we become complacent and forget to send down tap roots that can serve as an anchor in the storm. That the storms come is without question. Whether or not we are capable of enduring them is another story.

Just as the absence of conservation practices brought about the 'dust bowl' of the 1930's, so the absence of certain fundamental economic principles and practices are bringing on a financial storm today. Those who in times of plenty were wise enough to send down tap roots by practicing sound principles will most likely weather any storm. Those who only look strong but at heart have lost their integrity, will probably be leveled when the wind comes.

Ease, abundance and security produce large, weak trees. I want to be the tree that has deep roots. I may have to work harder and I may not grow as quickly as those who have all they need on the surface, but when the storms come, (and they do come) I hope to be ready.