John 11:26
This essay is about Boaz, whom some of knew as Charlie. But first, let me tell you a story.
Over the past century or two, Italian immigrants came to the region of Western Pennsylvania to work in the coal mines, steel mills, and stone quarries. They are a persistent people who carry on their homeland customs and traditions to this day. One of those is the growing of fig trees.
In the sunny and mild Mediterranean climate of Southern Italy, Fig trees grow almost without any care at all, and produce fruit abundantly. However, when immigrants arrived here, they found the frigid winters inhospitable to the trees that were adapted to mild climate. This did not deter them, and they quickly found a way to help the fig trees survive the freezing winters, to bloom and produce again in the spring and summer.
The technique was simplicity itself. At the end of the season, branches are pruned back severely. A trench is dug next to the trunk and the tree is lowered into the trench, uprooting most of the roots in the process. Then the tree is covered in soil and leaves for insulation. When the soil is again warm, the tree is lifted upright to grow and bloom again.
Jesus once said that “By their fruits you shall know them.” Boaz bore the fruits of the spirit, as anyone would know by meeting him. He was not only faithful himself, but encouraged others to grow in the Christian Faith. For that I am grateful.
In our baptism, we are symbolically lowered into the grave, to be raised again, as Christ was. Though Boaz may be in the ground, that is not his resting place, he will be raised again, like the fig tree; like our Savior; to new and glorious life.
Wayne