Florida’s flora is normally a verdant green, but this winter the color is barren brown. An unusual freeze dropped temperatures into the twenties and caused gardens that had been drop-dead gorgeous to simply drop dead. Now, two weeks later, some foliage is again producing leaves, revealing which plants are survivors and which are merely departed.
I know that some plant varieties are naturally hardier than others, but why does one hibiscus succumb to the cold and another snap back? Biologists tell me that surviving plants are generally more mature, with deeper root systems, and they grow in a protected environment close to other plants.
What is true about plants is also true of people. Why do some of us survive the winters of depression, discouragement, and loss, while others are destroyed by them? Two factors that make a difference are spiritual maturity and environment. This is why it is important to develop deep roots before winter freezes our souls. It is also why we need community. Isolation makes us susceptible to icy winds and leaves us unprotected when they come.
“Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken.” (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12)