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BY Rob Des Cotes
Train a child in the way he should go. Proverbs. 22:6
 One way or another, life grows. We have very little say in the fact that it grows, but we do have say in how it grows. In other words we have opportunity, as Scripture encourages, to train our life like one would train a child in the way it should go.
Once, in a class on spiritual formation, the instructor brought in a miniature bonsai tree to help us understand how spiritual growth is encouraged. For aesthetic as well as other reasons, limbs on a bonsai treeare trained to grow in certain ways, and discouraged from growing inothers. The analogy to spiritual life is obvious.
The way a particular growth pattern in a bonsai tree is encouraged is by wiring the branches in such a way that they are pulled, as they grow,in the desired direction. It's a slow but sure process that trains the tree by channeling its growth in a preferred direction.In order to protect the branches and to ensure that the desired outcome is achieved there are important rules to follow when wiring bonsai trees. Here are five important lessons I've learned about wiring a bonsai tree that also aptly apply to spiritual direction:
The wire needs to remain in place for at least three months in orderfor the branch to become trained in the new direction. During this time the wire should never become loose. Care must be taken to ensure that, as the tree grows, the wire does not bite into it, causing scarring. It can take many years for wire damage to grow out.
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The wiring should be constantly adjusted, as growth takes place, in order to avoid this. Wiring works by bending the wood to the point of stressing and purposely damaging some of the cells in the former bend. The tree,while repairing the damage, now grows back according to the new shape imposed on it by the wire. It is pointless and potentially damaging to wire an unhealthy tree.
If you wire a tree that is not in full vigour it might be unable to complete the repair and you could end up harming the branch. You should never wire a bonsai tree that has just been re-potted.
It's also important to give a tree adequate time to recover from one wiring before you begin another.
Consider how these principles apply to your own life. What wires do you have in place that are now directing your spiritual growth? Are they helping or hindering your growth? Are they too loose to really be productive? Or are they too tight? Do you have scars in your life from wires that have been too tight in the past? Do you feel strong enough at present to take on a new spiritual discipline or would you be wise to waituntil you have more spiritual vitality?
The Book of Proverbs encourages us to train a child in the way he should go. We apply this wisdom to ourselves as we learn to adopt beneficial habits of the heart that help channel our growth in a preferred direction.In the example of a miniature bonsai tree, God shows us how easy it is to take a branch that is growing in one direction, and train it to grow in another. It's simply a matter of learning how to keep beneficial patterns inplace long enough that they become the new norms for your life.
Rob Des Cotes is a spiritual director and pastor of Fairview Baptist Church in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. He teaches Contemplative Traditions at Trinity Western University, as well as courses on spirituality and the arts at Carey Theological College and Columbia Bible College. Rob also directs Imago Dei (www.imagodeicommunity.ca) a network of faith communities that encourages the practice of prayer and a transforming relationship with God. Rob is a regular contributor to canadianchristianity.com
To obtain 'Higher than I' go to: www.clementspublishing.com
March 20/2008
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