Challenging the Winds Without Roots

Food for thought for a Tuesday morning:

... Think of a tree; it first seeks out the lowest level, in order to grow upward; it fixes its roots in the lowly soil, in order to stretch out its topmost branches to the sky.

Can it reach upward from anywhere except its humble roots?

You, though, wish to comprehend the heights without charity; you are challenging the winds without roots.

That’s the way to come crashing down, not to grow.

With Christ dwelling in your hearts through faith, be rooted and grounded in love, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

-- St. Augustine of Hippo, d. 430, from "Augustine, Day by Day II" by the late John E. Rotelle, O.S.A. (The paragraph breaks are mine.)