It was the Japanese who first learned how to grow the miniature bonsai tree. When it first emerges as a sapling, the owner pulls it out of the soil, ties off its tap root and some of its feeder roots and then replants it. This stunts its growth by limiting the roots’ ability to grow deep and take in enough of the soils nutrients for a normal growth. The bonsai tree is a good illustration of the reason why many of us feel so spiritually bereft. The tap root of our spirituality got tied off long ago when we stopped making prayer and worship part of life. We thought those things didn’t matter, and now we wonder why we feel so spiritually stunted. But the good news is that, unlike the bonsai tree, that process can be reversed. ‘Whoever is thirsty,” Jesus said, “Let them come…they shall be like trees planted by the water.’