Over Pruning

I have been thinking a great deal about over pruning one's faith- cutting it too far back. I decided to do a little research on tree pruning as I find nature is a wonderful guide for the inner life.

Here"s what I found:

Over pruning is one of the worst and most common mistakes in tree maintenance. You should not prune more than 20%- 30% of a tree at any one time. Over pruning can cause cracks in the trunk and fungus growth.

Over the past few years I have cut my faith practices way back. Bit by bit I have cut back at both practice and beliefs- traditions, disciplines, scripture, jesus, christians. I have felt smart and even glib at times- proud that I am now in the "know".

Clearly, some pruning needed to happen and was very healthy. But at some point, it crossed over into cynicism and a new kind of pride. It has been very much in the head rather than the heart.

I find new growth slowly happening. I am in the process of examining what part of this tree needs to remain in tact for the health of the organism. I'm not sure what those are.

I have some inklings. For the moment, the pruning shears have been put away and I'm going to wait and see what grows.