“To be rooted is perhaps the most important and least recognized need of the human soul. It is one of the hardest to define. A human being has roots by virtue of his real, active and natural participation in the life of a community which preserves in living shape certain particular treasures of the past and certain particular expectations for the future.” – Simone Weil
Simone Weil, 20th century philosopher and writer, penned these words in the midst of a global war, yet poignant and true they remain today. In our globalizing, urbanizing world, roots to a place can be seen as unwanted tethers. Still, without ties to a community that preserves the “treasures of the past and certain particular expectations for the future,” in what are we rooted?