Thursday, February 19
Day 2 - Roots
by Eric Murray
radical | ˈradək(ə)l | origin: late Middle English (in the senses ‘forming the root’): from late Latin radicalis, from Latin radix, radic- ‘root’. of, or springing direct from, the root or stem base of a plant.
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Two very rare, very old elm trees towered over the east end of the church. Their trunks intertwined in such a way that they formed one lush canopy, a shade of green under which children played, walkers rested, and local office workers ate their lunches. These were very large, much beloved trees. Then one night, the remnants of a tropical storm rushed wildly through town. The storm knocked out power…and toppled those beloved trees.
Examining the downed trees, we found the trees’ root system had withered and died. You see, over the years layer upon layer of topsoil had been piled at the base of those trees, completely covering the roots and lower portions of the trunks. Doing so, as we discovered, tended to kill a tree’s roots. We had spent so much time, money and energy attending to the surface, but had neglected the root system.
Like those rare, old elm trees, over the two millennia in which the Christian faith has existed, layer upon layer of tradition and ritual has been piled over the roots of faith. The traditions and rituals became the focus of attention, to the detriment of the roots of faith.
This analogy, though imperfect, nonetheless illustrates the task before us. If we hope to cultivate a 21st century catechism, ironically, we will need to go back to the beginning, to the roots of faith. We will need to dig down through the layers of tradition and ritual—preserving the parts of the topsoil that were and continue to be life-giving—in order to uncover the faith that formed the root, i.e. the radical faith of the early church.
It should be fun. Catechesis meets anthropology. But first, there is the matter of faith…
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What questions are you asking of the faith today? Feel free to send your faith questions and conjectures to me at emurray247@gmail.com
