Stronger Together

Do you know how vital the sense of community is to your well-being? We may think we are totally independent, but English poet and cleric John Donne wrote in1624, “No man is an island.” We each really need others to care about us as a person, to be strong when we are weak, to stretch us in our thinking.

The Redwood trees of California teach us this lesson about community and sticking together!

The coastal redwoods are the tallest of all living things. They can grow to well over 300 feet tall and can live for 2,000 years or more! One would think that with great height they must also have very deep roots. Actually, their roots are only five or six feet deep. How are they able to stand so tall and strong?

By reaching out--their roots spread out, sometimes to 100 feet away from their trunk. They survive by intertwining their roots with the other redwood trees nearby, in fact their roots even fuse together. This gives them tremendous strength to withstand high winds and raging floods. They do not survive alone. They survive by interdependence. Sometimes, several redwoods will fuse together like ‘tribes’ or families of trees. This gives them stability.

Let us learn the lesson of the redwood trees. We need one another for our well-being. We need to talk together, work together, get along together. We are stronger together. This is such a wonderful caring community. Let us all work together to keep it strong.

Keep making friends, keep listening to one another, keep caring. Yes, know your limits. But we need the nourishment of worshiping together, the laughter of fun activities together, and the prayers together.

Jesus reminded: “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:34-35)

+ Sherree Lane, Campus Pastor at Scandia Shores of Shoreview

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