Roots and Leaves

Read Time — 2 Minutes

The tree stood alone on the top of a wind-swept plateau in Southwest Idaho.  We left home and drove two hours – from a four-lane freeway, to a two-lane highway, to a single-lane gravel road – finally ending up on a four-wheel-drive-only dirt road.  After loading up with water, we started hiking – leaping across the gully creek, panting up the side of the plateau, negotiating the rocky plateau top – to eventually come across the only tree growing on the top of the plateau.  It was a green-leafy tree, quite a contrast to the dusty brown sagebrush surrounding it. 

My first question was “how did it get there?”  My second question was “how does it grow there?”  The answer was in its roots.  The deep roots provided stability in the harsh climate and access to water and nutrients to nourish its growth.

Scripture also refers to being rooted.  “So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.” (Colossians 2:6-7).  As Christians, we are to live lives of thankfulness, being strengthened from our roots in Christ.  

There are different ways that we can live lives that flourish, showing our green leaves in the bleak, tumbleweed culture that often surrounds us.  Since, as Christians, we are rooted in Christ, one way to show our true colors is to financially invest in ways that exhibit our roots, rather than simply following the investment philosophy of the world.  

The world isn’t concerned about ethical investing, but we should be.  The leaves of our investing should represent the root of our lives.  It was work hiking to see the lone tree on the plateau – just as it is work investing according to biblical values – but green leaves flourish where there are good roots.

Doug Hanson, MBA

Wealth Advisor