Root

I love grass.

I really do.

Just the names cause a ripple of gardening excitement for me.

Zoysia. Centipede. Bermuda. Fescue. Kentucky Bluegrass. Winter Rye. Buffalo.

There’s a lot we could learn from the humble green stuff we walk over every day.

We could learn a lot about irony. Most of the people in the world (Central and South America, Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe in particular) would watch in shocked astonishment as we Americans work so hard at watering, fertilizing and weeding the thick patches of “weeds” that surround our homes.

Ask them, and they’ll tell you, “grass just grows.” Now, where’s the fun in that? I mean, come on, the fun is in the tinkering.

But if you’ve got a Bermuda lawn, as the majority of us do in North Georgia, you know that there’s truth in the statement.

Bermuda grass can teach us lessons about tenacity. It has an amazing ability to “just grow.“ After all, there’s a reason people in other parts of the world call it, “devil’s grass."

In the right place, it forms a beautiful lawn where the kids can play and sunny, summer afternoons can be passed in comfort. It controls erosion, slows runoff, “breathes” oxygen back into our air, absorbs the heat of the sun and just generally has the capacity to make our little corner of the planet greener, and much more pleasant.

But have you ever tried to keep it out of your flower beds?

Good luck.

Bermuda is amazing, and a plant we should learn from, because it has a mighty arsenal of growth and propagation tools at its disposal. Its roots run deep, and in times of drought, they run even deeper. It can “hibernate,” surviving drought by slowing to a marginal creep, then kicking back to full gear when the rains come.

Bermuda sends its offspring into the world by seed (which germinates easily, even in bad soil), and by runners over the ground. No doubt, you’ve seen bermuda yards that need attention, and noticed how long fingers of grass can reach across sidewalks or other concrete expanses until they find fertile soil on the other side.

But that’s not all bermuda can do. Its most stunning, and successful attribute is its ability to generate new life directly from its roots. “Rhizomes” make bermuda grass stealthy, hiding out when you think you’ve contained it, only to pop up in the far corner of a formerly safe, pristine garden real estate.

That’s what makes it so frustrating, and so cool. You never know what it’s doing underground, but you can bet it’s probably doing something.

That’s a great picture of what a Christian church is supposed to be. Throughout history, and in parts of our world today, the church has been and continues to be most healthy where it grows underground. Somehow, roots grow deeper when they have to.

We need drought-worthy root systems of our own. Our lives will not be green and full of life every single day. Sometimes, when the heat scorches and growth slows, we can be tempted to believe that there’s a problem with our faith. We think that if we only believed hard enough, long enough, or loved God deeply enough, we’d never experience such moments of difficulty or doubt.

Please know, that’s just not what the Bible tells us. I don’t know of a single story in scripture, from start to finish, where the characters have just gone “walking on sunshine” each and every day.

Isn’t that great?

I think it is.

It’s great because it makes scripture real, and it reminds us that people of faith have a whole lot more in common with tough, tenacious bermuda than fancy, finicky greenhouse plants that can’t last two days in the real world of sun and heat.

Christians need roots. Here’s how John Wesley said you can find them: pray, read scripture, worship, take communion, fast, live in community, participate in ministries to the poor, the sick and the imprisoned, work for justice and peace in our world.

If God is hidden from you today, these “rhizomes” of faith have the power to cause his presence to “pop up” in some corner of your life where you least expected to find him.

Give it a shot. Your faith is tougher than you think. And God is closer.

Grace and Peace,
Adam

LIFE AT SOTH:

Don’t forget that our worship this Sunday will be very special and includes an important time of decision-making in the life of our church. Rome-Carrollton District Superintendent, Jacqui Rose-Tucker will be present to preach, and to lead us through the process of congregational vote on Church Council’s resolution to sell our current church property and re-location within the community. One worship service only, at 10:00 a.m. this Sunday.

Thanks to Baby Noor’s foster family, and to Childspring International for making her presence possible at SOTH last night! It was wonderful to have Noor at our Wednesday night meal, and for our congregation to meet her face-to-face. She is doing incredibly well, and we give thanks to God for all he has done in her life, and all the ways that she has impacted our congregation.