This week's topic of being rooted reminds me of some great 20th century philosophers who were prophets of the spiritual condition of "rootlessness"--the phenomenon I tried to describe at the beginning of this past Sunday's sermon. I deeply respect the philosophers Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) and Simone Weil (1909-1943). This article traces the theme of rootlessness in Arendt and Weil.
I have only read excerpts and quotes from Weil's classic, the aptly titled The Need for Roots: Prelude to a Declaration of Duties towards Mankind. (Here's a good online article summarzing its argument.) Weil was a Jewish convert to Roman Catholicism and wrote out of a deep Christian faith. She wrote The Need for Roots near the end of World War II, reflecting especially on the spiritual condition of her homeland France, and what it would need to be rebuilt after the war. She viewed the disaster of WW2 as arising out of a rootlessness that is endemic to modern life. Weil writes:
To be rooted is perhaps the most important and least recognised need of the human soul. It is one of the hardest to define. A human being has roots by virtue of his real, active and natural participation in the life of a community which preserves in living shape certain particular treasures of the past and certain particular expectations of the future … Every human being needs to have multiple roots. It is necessary for him to draw well-nigh the whole of his moral, intellectual and spiritual life by way of the environment of which he forms a natural part.
Nothing short of new and better spiritual roots for humanity is need if we are to enjoy a better, safer future. She believed that the modern stress on individual rights is an uprooting force in society and argued instead for a greater emphasis on our obligations one to another--especially, compassion for those who are suffering and in need. Tragically, Weil died young at 34 years old before the end of the war. I wonder what she would have thought about the world that emerged out of WW2?
Question for Reflection: Where can you as an individual or a family put down deeper roots? How can we, even now, as a church grow deeper roots? I stressed Sunday our church's desire for roots in a long-term home. We do have a longing to put down such roots. But can we go about this work right here and now, absent a church building? I believe so. Can we do so in and through our Mesa groups? Or with other ministries of our church, say, to children and youth? If you or your Mesa group spend some time with this topic, I would love to hear from you!
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