“We are trees,
Trees planted strong
By living streams,
Rooted deep,
Deep in love.
We can thrive”

From “Living Psalms, Psalm 1,” by Rev. Tracy Howe

A tree that is deeply rooted is not only able to stay strong and flexible and stable through winds and storms, it is also able to tap into sources of life-giving water that are deep enough to survive through drought. A tree that is deeply rooted can not only survive but continue to produce leaves and flowers and fruits through tough times.

The question for us can be: how deeply are we rooted, what is for us the deep wellspring of living waters we can draw from so that we are able to be strong and stable and fruitful with the fruits of the spirit through adversity? In the words of a version of Psalm 1, by Nan C. Merrill, those who are committed to goodness and virtue, truth and love are like trees firmly rooted near the live-giving waters of God. How much deeper can you get than the Creator of the Universe, the Sacred Source of All Life?

The testimonies of our faith are about people who have strived to root deeply in God, despite, Rev. Tracy Howe’s version of the Psalm puts it, “isolating fear,” and “consuming greed,” “manipulation,” “death-dealing” ways.

We can all benefit from naming and praying for these kinds of deep roots and living waters, and naming and praying for the buds and flowers and fruits of that kind of faith to stay good and true and loving and virtuous through times of great trial and adversity.

One way we can do that naming and praying is through ritual.

The beginning of February in Ireland is the celebration of St. Brigid’s Day. St. Brigid is a beloved representative of the life-giving, life-renewing roots and fruits of a life lived with the heart of Christ. She was born to a woman who was enslaved. The experience of her upbringing, coupled with her experience with the living Christ, made her lovingly attentive to those who need special nurture, especially those who have been neglected. She also is associated with the sacred powers of bringing fertility and creativity and healing and renewed life out of desperate situations. In Ireland, this is symbolized by the wells that are dedicated to St. Brigid in the midst of groves of trees.

St. Brigid’s feast day is February 1st, when the winter can start to feel very long, but we are in fact started to get closer to spring than we are to the longest night of winter. In the plant world at this time, their metabolism is starting to stir out of dormancy and prepare to make new buds for spring.

In Ireland, one of the practices on St. Brigid’s Day is to go to one of her wells and dip a piece of cloth in the water and tie that cloth to a nearby tree. Often people use this as a way to pray for healing for themselves or a loved one, bringing a piece of cloth from that person. But it’s also an opportunity to pray for other ways one may be needing or yearning for a deepened faith in the eternal truths of God through hardships and tests of that faith. It’s an opportunity to pray for a blessing on whatever new buds the fruits of the spirit of God’s Love are courageous preparing to emerge come spring.

So I have adapted this to a ritual anyone can do. What’s needed is a strip of cloth or ribbon; a body of water, either natural or in a basin that can be sacred for you; a tree that has lost its leaves for winter; and a prayerful attitude.

Here’s the ritual:

1. Prayerfully reflect on these questions:

What can be preparing to grow for you, for one you care about, for our society, for our world? What potential for strength or renewal do you deeply hope for, that’s deeply needed, especially to help you, to help us, to help others near and far live more fully into who God has created us to be? Consider a God’s eye view of yourself, or your family, or our society, or our world.

2. Pray that hope into the strip of cloth or ribbon

3. Dip the cloth into the water source, praying for your hope to be nourished by the living waters of Christ

4. Tie the cloth to the branch of an overwintering tree, knowing it is beginning to stir out of dormancy, and in a few months will begin to bud.

5. Return to the tree in the coming weeks and months, prayerfully remembering your hope for renewal, and the Spirit of Christ that is helping it prepare to bud.

I wish blessings upon the potential within each of you, and within us as a community, society, and world, to continue to grow into the belovedness God has created us to be.

You can view video of this sermon here. Delivered Sunday, February 3, 2025, by Rev. Nathaniel Mahlberg at the United Church of Christ at Valley Forge.