A Friend (Root) Forever

I’m still reeling with laughter from having recently watched Tyler Perry’s Madea goes to Jail. Interspersed between the humor and inimitable rhetoric of every one of his plays (that I’ve seen), are succinct spiritual messages that encourage us to live our lives effectively as well as recognize the value of relationships. While there were numerous moral messages in the play, the one that got my attention the most was ‘hidden’ at the end when Madea was speaking with the 16-year-old girl for whom she was providing temporary custody while her mother served out a prison term. Madea compared relationships to a tree. Wow! I’ve heard lots of analogies, and I’ve heard relationships likened to so many different things… but a tree? That’s how engaging the writing of the Madea scripts can be! Here’s how she expressed it (the following are my words but Madea’s ideas):

Some relationships are like the leaves on a tree. They are unstable and unreliable. Blowing this way and that with every wind of circumstance, these relationships tend not to last. Like leaves on a tree, that are constantly blown this way and that in the wind, they eventually fall off and then wither and die. Other relationships are like the branches of a tree. They are attached to the trunk and can typically withstand the wind. But, put under enough pressure from bearing a load, they will often bend and break. Like the branches of a tree, certain relationships often can’t withstand the weight of pressure that might be brought to bear on them as a result of life’s influences.

Finally, there are the relationships that are like the roots of a tree. Firm and solid, they run deep into the ground and withstand the pressure of any wind of change. Long after the leaves have withered, and the branches have snapped, the ‘root’ relationships are still standing. I have walked through circumstances in my life that have revealed all three levels of relationship. It is my fervent prayer that, as I become more like Jesus, I will be the kind of friend that always represents the roots. What kind of friend are you? What kind of experiences have you had? Care to share?