Like the roots of a tree

Women are like the roots of a tree. Strong and seeking, nourishing persistently. They reach down deep as taproots. They spread out seeking the best for themselves and for those who they must sustain. A mighty forest cannot exist without them, without their constant anchor and support. The sapling will not survive if they stop their work. The ancient bristlecone depends on them for the few bits of green it still displays. Women uphold life everywhere.

Have you ever tried to uproot a full grown tree? It’s like trying to pick up an anthill, one ant at a time. Take down the trunk and the roots remain. Women must never be ignored or marginalized, for their roots of dignity and determination will remain. She flourishes despite the heat and the cold. She grows despite hatred and misunderstanding and restraints. She burrows into the softest loam, into unyielding hardpan, and down into the driest sand. She is a root that can topple a building, buckle the thickest pavement. Her influence is felt everywhere. She can withstand pruning and pinching. She is quietly powerful. But where she is cut off and dismissed, there is famine and desert and despair.

A woman is a self sacrificing root. Like the carrot or yam she fills herself with goodness and plenty, only to give it all up into the hands of the gardener to sustain others. She brings up the sweetness for apples and grapes, for peaches and mangoes. Roots ripen the butternut and the coconut. Roots bring forth foliage to protect and comfort and feed a multitude of creatures. The very sap of life begins with her questing and absorbing what is needful and useful.

The power of women is a spreading root.