Root

I returned to the only place on earth where my roots are generations deep. It was my first trip in approximately three years.

Unlike most of my other trips to the country of my birth, Guyana, I did not return for a funeral but to celebrate life … my own. The trip was a birthday gift to myself. I say it was a gift to myself but know, as stated, in James 1:17, “Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above; it comes down from the Father of lights [the Creator and Sustainer of the heavens], in whom there is no variation [no rising or setting] or shadow cast by His turning [for He is perfect and never changes]” (AMP). I thank God for this gift.

I did not know how desperately I needed to be there until I arrived and walked through my family home which, although renovated and no longer resembling the home of my early years, still had elements of // the old integrated into the current structure: Windows. Doors. Cabinets. A wooden table carved by Herbie, a master craftsman who has long left this earth, but his work remains. The memories of my mother were especially strong in the kitchen as I looked at the wooden mortar and pestle she had used more than 30 years ago.

I felt grounded, reoriented, standing and walking where the elders had walked and lived and loved and fought and overcame and endured and are buried. So much has changed there and not all for the good but there was a sense of belonging there I have felt nowhere else.

In the last week of July 2022, I returned to the only place on earth where my roots are generations deep. I feel a sense of belonging there that I have felt in no other earthly place. It was there that I was taught the truth spoken by Moses and recorded in Psalm 90:1 (AMP):
Lord, You have been our dwelling place [our refuge, our
sanctuary, our stability] in all generations.
Before the mountains were born
Or before You had given birth to the earth and the world,
Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are [the eternal] God.

So, even if circumstances keep from returning physically to the only place on earth where my roots are generations deep, the Eternal God will remain my dwelling place, my refuge, my sanctuary, my stability as He has been for all generations.

I am joining the Five Minute Friday writing community, hosted by Kate Motaung, for our weekly writing adventure. The writing prompt is, “Root.” Please click here to learn about Five Minute Friday and read posts from other members of the FMF community. The content behind the // was added after 5 minutes had expired.