There is a story told about the bamboo forests of Asia. When bamboo is planted, almost nothing happens for years. The seed is watered. The soil is tended. Seasons pass. To the casual observer, the ground appears unchanged.

One year goes by. Nothing.

Two years. Still nothing.

Three. Four.

Then sometime around the fifth year, something remarkable happens. The bamboo suddenly shoots upward. Within a matter of weeks it can grow nearly ninety feet tall.

To someone who has not been watching closely, the growth appears sudden and almost miraculous. But of course the growth did not begin in the fifth year.

For years the bamboo has been doing its most important work underground. It has been growing an intricate network of roots, spreading wide and deep through the soil. Only once that foundation is strong enough does the visible growth begin.

I have been thinking about that story lately.

Spiritual traditions have always understood something that bamboo forests demonstrate so clearly: the most important growth often happens where we cannot see it.

• When people gather to support one another, roots are growing.

• When neighbors refuse to abandon compassion in a climate of fear, roots are growing.

• When communities continue telling stories of justice, mercy, and dignity even when the larger culture grows cynical, roots are growing.

None of that work appears dramatic. It rarely makes headlines. It does not move quickly enough to satisfy our longing for immediate change.

But it matters.

Jesus often spoke about the kingdom of God in ways that puzzled people. He compared it to seeds scattered in a field, seeds that grow quietly through the night while the farmer sleeps. The growth happens beyond human control and often beyond human awareness. That image has always required patience.

The work of love, justice, and community rarely unfolds on the timetable we prefer. It grows slowly, often invisibly, through relationships and commitments that deepen over time. Like bamboo, it builds a foundation beneath the surface before it rises into view.

We may not yet see the full height of what is being planted in this moment.

…but the roots are growing, and roots, once established, can hold an entire forest.

Keep the faith, friends. 

We are in this together, 

Grace and peace,

Anita Sorenson
Pastor for Spiritual Formation