Am I leaf or root?

Now that Lent has drawn to a close and the season of Easter has unfolded the mother of all events, the resurrection of Jesus, we are invited to enjoy and savour the fruits of Easter during this season. We are invited to continue our reflection on our own lives, in order to cement our relationship with God and each other. It is a favourable time for us to introspect to gaze at our relationships with our brothers and sisters. In our modern times, social communication has helped to large extent to converse and build relationship from far and near. This has made our world truly a global village. But, the question always remains, has our modern world brought people together only virtually or in reality?

I thought the analogy of a tree given by Mr Taylor Perry would be helpful to unfold our relationships. Perry through the analogy of a tree explains the people who visit our life, be it friends, family, acquaintances, employees, co-workers, and so on.

Leaf People: Some people come into our life and they are like leaves on a tree. They are only there for a season. We can’t depend on them or count on them, because they are weak and are there only to give us shade. Like leaves, they are there to take what they need and as soon as it gets cold or a wind blows in our life they are gone. We can’t be angry at them, that is just what they are.

Branch People: There are some people who come into our life and they are like branches on a tree. They are stronger than leaves, but we have to be careful with them. They will stick around through most seasons, but if we go through storm or two in our life, it is possible that we lose them. Most of the times they break away when it is tough. Although they are stronger than leaves, we have to test them out before we run out there and put all our weight on them. In most cases they can’t handle too much weight. But again, we can’t be angry at them, it is just who they are.

Root People: If we can find some people in our life who are like the roots of a tree, then we have found something special. Like the roots of a tree, they are hard to find because they are not trying to be seen. Their only job is to hold us up and help us live a strong and healthy life. If we thrive, they are happy. They stay low key and don’t let the world know that they are there. And if we go through an awful storm they will hold us up. Their job is to hold us up, come what may and to nourish us, feed us and water us.

While a tree has many limbs and many leaves, it has only a few roots. Look at our own life. How many leaves, branches and roots do we have? What are you in other people’s lives? While thanking God for the gift of roots let us also make efforts to be roots in other’s lives. That was what Jesus was and we are called to be like Jesus our root.