Our Roots Grow Deep was written and published in 1970 by Carmen Bennett, my fourth grade school teacher. It is a history of the sparsely populated county in northwest Texas where I grew up. Inside the front cover of the book is a personal note from the author. It reads in part, “Richard, your Cottle County heritage is a rich one. May you and your nice family heap honor upon it.”

Indeed my heritage from the place of my birth is rich. There are many from there that stood tall in my eyes to serve as life examples I have followed. And one of the many life lessons I have learned from them is that standing tall is no indication that roots have grown deeply. All one must do to discover that fact is to take a quick drive into the Texas hill country. There it is easy to find numerous giant Red Oak trees fallen in the shadows of where they once stood mightily among the landscape. The branches and leaves once grew stately and tall above their roots that spread widely along the surface of the earth. But their roots did not grow deep. So when the ground shifted or the winds blew, there was no source of strength to keep them standing. So it often is in our own lives.

Life is lived on the surface it seems. The surface is what everyone sees. Indeed we tend to define ourselves by what is visible to those around us. We walk on the earth, we flower and bloom above the roots that grow widely along the surface. The world may celebrate the stature we gain, but it is the depth of our roots that anchors us when the ground shifts or the winds blow.

In our world we become consumed by the matters on the surface of life. We are enamored with social status, intellectual achievement, athletic feats, and amassing wealth.  Our concerns are much about how tall we stand in the eyes of others instead of how deeply our relationship with God has grown.

We heap honor on our heritage not by how tall we stand in the eyes of those around us. We heap honor on our heritage by how deeply our roots have grown toward God. He is the source of our strength. The ground may shift and the winds may blow, but we will still be standing when our roots grow deep.