MEDITATION
ROOTED
In The Land
“There are two things we should give our children: one is roots and the other is wings.”
(attributed to Hodding Carter, as borrowed from the Reverend Henry Ward Beecher)
N
ot so very long ago, most people lived full lives in a small geographic area. Their sons
and daughters also lived nearby and they tended to follow their parents in their choice
of lifestyle and profession. The quote above dates from the antebellum era of the USA,
when slavery was being abolished, racial intolerance was being challenged and life was
becoming more fluid and flexible than ever before.
Today the pace of life is moving at lightning speed; careers are expected to change frequently; families often split and reform on new lines and geographic distance between
family members seems more common than not. We can be forgiven for feeling rootless.
Perhaps this is a new form of tribal migration that is now upon us. Economic drivers are certainly part of the picture, but so too is a growing sense of belonging to a planet, rather than
a place. The cult of the ‘Great Individual’ which has driven our philosophy for more than
100 years goads us into thinking that wherever we go, we will be accepted for our unique
gifts, talents and hard work.
If this is so, are roots even relevant any more? Is there something about rootedness that is
deeper than just social connection?
Until the age of 35, I had spent more of my adult life outside of Canada than in it, travelling the world in the search for enlightenment, aspiring to become a global citizen with