As we hear stories of men sexually torturing women, priests sexually abusing altar boys, teachers seducing students, spouses cheating on one another, and parents molesting their own children, our hearts break for the victims and for our sexually broken culture. These are merely examples of someone getting bit on the behind by their own fantasies because they were too afraid to turn around and face them. They weren’t mature enough to sift through their own shadows and make sense of the darkness that dwells there, so they focused on the fruit of their fantasies rather than the roots.

What we see as a flower or tree or any other kind of plant is just an extension of what’s at the root. You won’t see magnolia leaves sprouting from the roots of a dogwood tree, nor will you see ears of corn shoot off of a cucumber vine. What we are in the light is determined by who we are in the dark. Our fruit is merely the product of our roots.

Thus it will only be through tending to our mental, emotional, and spiritual roots that we will bear the healthiest fruit possible. Ignore the roots, and the plant will suffer. Nurture the roots, and the plant will thrive.