Summary: I wonder if we are willing to abide in anything, to immerse ourselves wholly in something, to allow anything to captivate our heart and life, to view our whole existence through that one lens . . . At first I want to say, no, no one would be willing to give of him or herself in that way. It sounds too constricting. But then I begin to think about the many things that we give ourselves to: our jobs, our families, our hobbies, interests, or activities. I begin to think about the things that we spend our time doing, the things that we give our lives to. Many of us are sports fans, we dress up, we go to games, and we make the time. Some of us love our television programs, so we sit there and even "binge-watch." We cannot wait for the next season to begin again. So as it turns out, we are constantly abiding--constantly living in, taking residence in, fixing ourselves permanently on, many things in our lives. Our abiding speaks to our rooting, and it turns out that we are rooting in different ways every day. We do so every moment of our lives. We kid ourselves if we think that those things that root us are not affecting us, shaping us, and transforming us. The proof of our shaping is evident all around us. That which we value, which we spend our time doing, the activities that we engage in, our attitudes and ways of engagement, all speak to the things that captivate our hearts. These things are the fruit of our abiding, the fruit of our rootedness.
