How
often you admire a tree for the loveliness of its green
foliage and the profusion of its luscious fruit. You speak
to your friend of the beauty of the tree and of the
goodness of God in bestowing such a gift to men; but
perhaps you do not speak nor even think of the coarse,
unsightly roots hidden deep in the ground. But that tree
owes its beauty and its life to roots. The foliage is
bright and fresh and green because the roots are burrowing
deep in a rich well-watered soil. The flavoring of the
fruit is generated by the roots down in the dark and
silent chamber of the earth.
Perhaps there comes to your mind
now some whose faces you always see lit up with a radiant
glory. You can not fail to admire them. Their words
contain a secret power and seem to awaken in you all that
is noble. They seem to lift you into a higher life. From
their words, their action, and their countenances flows an
influence that causes you to forget the things of earth
and makes you feel as if you had joined the society of
angels. Such ones have a secret hidden root-life that
generates this peculiar charm in their visible life. Down
in a closet is a secret laboratory where the fragrance and
beauty and glory that flow out of their lives are
compounded. There the roots of their inner life take hold
upon the riches of heaven's grace and drink in of the
waters that flow. In their oft and silent communion with
God they take root downward, and then they go forth into
life and bear fruit upward. While others are talking with
their friends about the things of earth, they meet with
God in the garden of graces, where the sweet spices flow
out and the frankincense and myrrh scent the air, and
there they become laden with a profusion of fruits and
impregnated with a sweet odor, which they bear out into
the world. They are like the tree planted by the rivers of
water, whose leaf does not wither.
O beloved pilgrim, see that the
roots of your inner being are well watered. Let them drink
in the sparkling waters of life. Remember, effectual work
for God consists more in being than in doing. Do not go
about in your labor with an empty basket. It is only when
you go out from deep and silent communion with God that
your labor will be effectual. Never think that you have so
much to do that you have not much time for prayer. An
hour's work done in the quiet, secret power of the Spirit
is worth more than a day of your own efforts. Keep the
roots watered.
