A lone tree stands in the middle of a field. Can you picture it? Old, crooked, large branches to offer shade. Green in summer, empty in winter. Its sole purpose is to offer some relief from the sun. Maybe it has seen picnics come and go, lazy cows, or rambunctious colts. But for the most part, it stands alone.
Now picture, if you will, a forest of trees. Particularly, Aspen trees. Tall, skinny trees. White bark with darker spotting here and there. Bright yellow leaves. In preparing for National Young Adult Conference, I learned some interesting facts about these trees. Though on the surface they appear as individual trees, under the ground they are connected by a vast root system. Many trees make up one group or clone of trees. Unlike that lone tree in a field, these trees work together to care for each other as well as the animals of the forest around them. Where one solitary tree in a field can only care for a few animals or humans at a time, these Aspens can care for whole ecosystems by working together.
Most days, as an introvert, I find myself envious of the lone tree. Solitude with a good book is one of my very favorite pastimes. But there are many days when I seek out my friends and my community for companionship. I stand as one tree but I choose to be part of the greater community as well. Attached at my roots to those around me who support me when I need it most and to who I offer support in return. These communities consist of friends and family I see every day as well as those I only see once or twice a year.
A community that has truly shaped me and supported me is the group of young adults who attend Young Adult Conference every year. I have made some lasting and meaningful relationships with this group. I look forward to seeing them every year at the conference. But there’s another side to this group as well that is constantly changing. As some young adults “age out” of the group and others enter the age group we see a beautiful fluctuation in the group also. I’m constantly missing faces at our gatherings and welcoming new ones. I’m about to age out soon myself and I’ve already started trying to find ways to continue the conversation and gather a group of my peers together annually just like this group of young people. There is something so constant as well as mercurial about the group that gives participants a new experience at every conference. New voices mean new insight. Old friends guarantee comfort and fellowship at every gathering.
The Aspen trees were our influence this year because they represent our community which has stayed connected through the last couple of years even though we weren’t able to meet in person. It was still a wonderful experience to see everyone’s faces in the last couple of virtual conferences, but it was so refreshing to see everyone once again in person. It was a renewal of the soul and a lifting of the spirits to see and hug each other.
Throughout the conference we laughed a lot and, honestly, we cried quite a bit as well. But we did it together as a community, with the knowledge that where we were was a safe space. It was holy ground. We worshiped together, we took our meals together, and we learned together at our workshops. There was even space for a lone tree to find a moment to reflect and read on its own. Our retreat time in Montreat, NC became a thin place where we met with each other and with God.
Young Adult Conference moves around every year but wherever we are is home. We are comforted and we are challenged at these gatherings, challenged to not just stay closed up in our own comfortable spaces but to go out and do the work of Jesus. We are called as a community and as individuals to go, do, and be as Christ to others. Feed the hungry, care for the sick, and listen to the outcast with humility.
Our root system is indeed vast. It does not stop at the gathered community of those at Young Adult Conference. We are challenged to remember that we are all connected as one global community. We must support each other and care for each other as one body, one family. Our roots run deep and far. We don’t stand alone in a field, watching the world pass us by. We thrive as one unit and when one part of the group suffers, we all suffer. When one part of the family flourishes, we all celebrate. As the song by Dana Rosemary Scallon says, “we are one body, one body in Christ, and we do not stand alone.”
Rachel Witkovsky is the Worship Coordinator for the Palmyra Church of the Brethren. She graduated from Elizabethtown College with a B.A. in Theatre Performance and a minor in Creative Writing. She grew up in Huntington, PA and currently lives in Palmyra with her cat, Charlie.