In high school, I was part of a life-changing Bible study group. One night, we only covered a couple of words in Ephesians. The discussion was so engaging, honest, and thoughtful that we couldn't go any faster. 

I remembered that evening as I reread Psalm 1:3. It says that a righteous person "is like a tree planted beside flowing streams."

Trees are planted.

Rooted. Established. Fixed in place. 

Let's be like a tree. Let's contemplate this one word together.

One study shows that, in the U.K., people check their smartphones every twelve minutes.

The article linked above mentions a concept from consultant Linda Stone: continuous partial attention:

By adopting an always-on, anywhere, anytime, any place behaviour, we exist in a constant state of alertness that scans the world but never really gives our full attention to anything. In the short term, we adapt well to these demands, but in the long term the stress hormones adrenaline and cortisol create a physiological hyper-alert state that is always scanning for stimuli, provoking a sense of addiction temporarily assuaged by checking in.

Does continuous partial attention describe your life? 

This week my family went camping. As I sat at the base of one waterfall, I was mesmerized by how the light bounced off a thousand shimmering drops of water. We sat together and talked about how the water slowly wore the rocks down over millions of years. I had in mind this image of God as the most patient sculptor, arranging his masterpiece in minuscule ways throughout millennia. My mind was at peace for a few moments, transfixed by the beauty of God's creation. 

But as we continued to walk along the trail, my mind turned to emails I needed to answer, a project I wanted to complete for work, anxiety about what I was missing on social media, an impulsive desire to check the news, and a thousand other thoughts. I was physically present but mentally absent. Unfortunately, even on the trail, I had cell phone service. It was hard to wait more than twelve minutes to check in and see what was happening.

Imagine a restless tree. How deep would its roots go? How tall would it stand? How well would it handle the storms of life? 

There's a crisis of discipleship in the church.

Perhaps it’s because we aren't rooted — but distracted.

We aren't planted like trees by streams of water.

Too often, we're like honey bees flitting between thousands of different flowers.

If you want your faith to grow into a strong oak tree, you must be continually nourished by streams of water. 

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Photo by Daniel Morris on Unsplash (I’ve cropped it).