PLANTED BY THE WATERSIDE

I have mentioned before in this column the etching I once saw in a house in Ireland where a child lay on a bed dying. The mother has her head buried in despair in the bedclothes, the father standing lost in the background and the doctor sitting by the bed deep in thought. He is straining every inch of his knowledge and his intuition to find a remedy.

Scientists today are humbler than their forbears. There was a time, in the hubris of the Enlightenment, when they boasted they would, in time, find the answer to all nature’s secrets. Few would claim that today. The more science advances, the more scientists know their limits – and the more some of the gospel sayings show their wisdom; “When you have done all you were told to do, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty’” (Lk 17:10).

But still, scientists, like doctors, explore beyond known boundaries and follow their intuitions. They leave aside rule books, manuals and maps and search for solutions that may never have been tried before. They will not go wrong if they remember another scripture saying, this time from Jeremiah; ‘Blessed is the one who trusts in Yahweh … They are like a tree by the waterside … which never stops bearing fruit’ (17:7).

I take this to mean, when a person is rooted in God, they can try all sorts of things. They will never go far wrong. Am I saying anything profound? No! We know that no soldier can be trained for every eventuality in war and no player can prepare for every twist of a football game. True, but we are not soldiers or footballers – most of us. The point surely is; we are all called to be explorers, all called to announce the kingdom of God wherever we are planted.

The tree has no choice, but we have. We can choose to be planted by the waterside and ‘thrust our roots to the stream’ (Jer 17 again). There we draw water that gives us energy and imagination to engage in the struggles of today. Alone, we can do nothing. But rooted by the water’s edge we can make a difference – beyond the rules.

16 Feb 2025. Sunday 6 C. Jer 17:5-8. 1 Cor 15:12… 20. Lk 6: 17… 26