I typically do not watch television shows. When I'm home, I'll watch a little bit of the Food Network with my family. And I watch the occasional anime every once in a while. But one of my friends has introduced me to a new television show, which I am quite addicted to: Once Upon a Time.
This show has reams of pro-life messages, which make me very overjoyed :) And it is all about fairy tales! I love fairy tales! As I watch this show, I don't just become enthralled with the fairy tale characters; I love the bits of wisdom and truth in the dialogue throughout the show. And I was slammed with the quote from the wicked queen in a recent episode:
“In order for something to grow, it needs roots.”
Whoa. Seriously? An occasion of a bad character spouting out a bit of wisdom and truth (which totally works, 'cause we're all striving for truth).
We need to have roots, and we need to be growing. So many times, it can be easy to sit back and expect God to do everything while we sit in our sinful lives. We've all done it; we live in sin (because, well, we're human and imperfect and weak and fail time and time again....) but then expect God to constantly come at us with an overpowering "Conference Conversion" experience, which then perpetuates us onto a "Jesus high" that lasts for a little while, before we fall back into sin and bad habits. It happens. I've done it; I still do it.
And I can't stand it!
God works in amazing conversion experiences, which is fantastic! However, He does not call us to conversion to simply have us live a "Jesus high, all sunshine and roses" life, until the honeymoon stage wears off and we fall away again. No, God calls us to relationship. And relationships require foundations; roots. If our relationship with God does not have a solidly rooted foundation, the flower of our spiritual life can wither and fade away, and be crushed by the exterior elements. But if our relationship with God is rooted in deep prayer, sacraments, Tradition, Truth, and Love, we will have a strong foundation on which to continually build our relationship. The strong roots will hold the flower of our life, so that we can continually grow into beautiful flowers for God's garden!
In order to grow, you must get deeper into the soil and be rooted; rooted strongly in God. Creating a strong foundation that will withstand the exterior temptations, hardships, and sorrows.
Be rooted and grow always closer to Him!
