Growth Beneath the Surface

Happy Tu B'Shevat! Tu B'what?

It's the 15th Day of the Month of Shevat, and it's the shared birthday for all the trees.  Over in Israel, the trees are starting to flower, and beginning a new cycle of growth.  Here in the New York, we're left wondering when the sap will start flowing once again.

Trees, like us humans, wake up from the inside out.  Trees, like humans, begin most growth and change beneath the surface.

I recently spent a week in Kalamazoo MI at the Fetzer Institute.  In service of the organization's mission - to help build the spiritual foundation for a more loving world - they decided to gather a group of 25 or so faith leaders to learn from one another how we are translating ancient teachings for modern spiritual seekers. 

I learned from amazing Sisters who prefer meditation to the sermons at Sunday Mass.  I had a powerful exchange with a Buddhist on the topic of compassion.  I experienced the beautiful prayer offerings of some Sufis.  And I got to share one of my favorite spiritual guidebooks: The Way of Man by Martin Buber.  It was a special, special week.

While our group represented real diversity, there was ample common ground.  We largely agreed that spiritual formation needs support, space and structure.  It's too important to leave to chance, and it's too challenging to pursue on one's own.  

​Our inner lives need attention.  They really do.  In the Jewish community, we love to talk, analyze and stay very busy, and sometimes what we need most is to sit with ourselves and take our exploration inward.  Much of spiritual growth begins beneath the surface and may remain there for some time, but that is not where it ends.  Once the sap starts to flow, sweet flowers will soon blossom.

As Martin Buber teaches in The Way of Man, "The transformation of myself is the fulcrum from where, like Archimedes, I can move the world."  This little book of big ideas would be great material for a new circle!  

​May the birthday of the trees invite us all to examine our roots and reach for the sky!