Roots and soil!

During the last week there was thunderstorm and heavy rain almost every evening. Many trees fell or their branches were blown away in the storm.

Anna and I stopped at this site on our way back home to have a closer look at this seventy years old tree uprooted in the storm.

The roots were on shallow and loose ground, although the roots were well  spread out.

The roots appeared slender and sparse for a fifty metre tall and heavy tree with thick foliage. The soil was porous and loose and did not hold the roots solidly. While we were at the site, a farmer mentioned that ‘a tree needs solid roots in a good soil to survive’.

I listened to a few medical students staying in the hostel the other day, who talked about how they have drifted into some undesirable habits, which they could resist while  living at home. They were rooted in the good traditions and practices of the home. Once in the hostel, neither did they belong to a group who would guard them from drifting nor exercise their freedom to develop personal moral checks and balance on their own.

We require moral roots and a community to belong to, to keep us us from falling or drifting ! We are linked to the virtual community through Face book, etc. and are getting distanced from personal and visible contacts with each other.  The intimacy that is inherent between the roots and soil, highlights the need for intimacy in our relationships with each other to stay mutually supported.


M.C.Mathew