Thirsty for Truth

Cristen Rodgers

In many ways, spiritual truths are a lot like spring rains.  When the rain falls upon the upturned face of a flower she has no choice but to acknowledge its presence – but only when that rain gets at her roots, only after it seeps down past the grass and the rocks, making its way through the mud and clay, does it help the flower grow.

Like that flower, our roots are covered too; they are buried beneath all the things that we cling to as a part of our identity.  Every definition that we give to ourselves, each judgement that we make about the world, and all of our beliefs and assumptions that we rigidly hold are piled atop our souls –  and before any truth can seep down in there where it can nurture future growth, we have to be willing to dig through these layers and clear away the debris.

Even when the rains of spring fall equally upon the entire garden, each flower will grow at her own pace and will bloom in her own unique way.  This is because how she grows and when she blooms depends as much on the receptivity of her roots as it does on the frequency of the rain.  It could rain all day, but if the layers are too thick for the water to penetrate, she will remain thirsty.  So also our own growth depends as much on our openness to truth and our ability to let it get deep down into the heart of our identity as it does on how many truths we listen to and understand.

When we are defensive about who and what we are, the truth may make sense but it will be of little effect – the rain may fall upon our face but will have difficulty watering our roots.  As it has to make its way through these thick layers of defensiveness, it gathers impurities that make it potentially as detrimental as it would have been beneficial.  The more that we are willing to peel that defensiveness away – the more beliefs we are willing to challenge, the more assumptions we can push aside, and the more fears and expectations we can break apart – the easier it becomes for the truth to seep down into our soul; and the purer that truth will remain as it makes its way through.

In this season of rebirth and new growth, let’s aspire to not just hear truth but to really receive it and allow it to change us.  Let’s get in touch with our roots and wiggle them around a little, loosening up all of the debris we’ve piled atop them.  Let’s open ourselves up to the rain, unafraid because we know that the more we lose the greater our gain.

©2016 Cristen Rodgers

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49 Comments

  1. Wonderful wisdom and post Cristen. I love the analogy to nurturing our roots with truth rain that we must allow to feed us by our receptiveness, weeding out the blocks.. 🙂
    To nurturing rains, truth, love and friendships to feed our roots!

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  2. Good thoughts, Cristen. And of course we have to always be willing to let our roots go ever deeper, seeking more nourishment. We have to release and go past those old layers that were our new truths last season lest we become defensive about those, realizing that each new truth is not the whole truth, that it’s the journey of a lifetime and beyond.

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  4. Pingback: Thirsty for Truth | Daisy in the Willows

  5. Awesome Cristen. Even the revelation of our buried roots is a spiritual truth that is eternal! Merton said it this way (1961):

    As long as we do not permit His love to consume us entirely and to unite us in Himself, the gold that is in us will be hidden by the rock and dirt which keep us separate from one another. As long as we are not purified by the love of God and transformed into Him in the union of pure sanctity, we will remain apart from one another, opposed to one another, and union among us will be a precarious and painful thing, full of labor and sorrow and without lasting cohesion. Merton, Thomas “New Seeds of Contemplation”

    You are brilliant Cristen. You see so well. We are all very blessed by your precious spirit.

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  8. This post really spoke to me. The whole world teaches us what we are and what to do about it. We are a reflection of it and it is a reflection of us. It is one infinite metaphysical story. Then it goes deeper than even this, and you touched on it as well, when it gets in our soul (soil) and we begin to understand and live it.

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      1. You most likely will, since you peaked my interest enough to follow you. 🙂
        A very good day to you!

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  9. I pledge to seek truth by studying the world around me,
    To develop my character through regular practice,
    To cultivate sound instincts.

    From the solseed creed (solseed.org)

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  21. This is beautifully written, and the imagery of rain soaking through to the roots makes a great unifying metaphor. Comes close to what I’ve always called the difference between “intellectual knowledge” and “visceral knowledge,” the difference between knowing and KNOWING.

    What you say about defensiveness is especially potent; even the greatest truths can be twisted into caricatures of themselves by people not yet open to hearing them.

    Thank you for this post, and blessings for you the rest of your day.

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    1. I’m grateful for your attention and your comments. That is exactly what I was getting at, visceral versus intellectual! I was hoping that perhaps people who haven’t already learned that difference might find their curiosity sparked by the post. I hope your day is beautiful and bright! Namaste 🙏

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  25. Hi Christen,
    First of all I love your blog!
    Now that’s out the way…lol
    I ask myself how many times have I lied to myself?
    Living in denial is living dishonesty.
    There are so many things that can stop the truth from reaching our roots.
    Rationalization, justification and more.
    That’s why we must challenge our beliefs like you said.
    Because everything we know is subject to revision especially what we know about the truth.
    Great read!
    Vernon

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