IT'S STARTING TO LOOK LIKE WHAT MIGHT GROW into a comeback story for the ages, a story of rebirth. At least that's the ideal scenario to those who cheer on the revival of Laguna de Bay, the largest lake in the Philippines. The lake, by some measures, is now dying. Pollution and overuse have taken a huge toll. But hope is putting down roots. If the healthy return of this once-magnificent lake succeeds, a lot of credit will go to ... bamboo? That's right. Bamboo has increasingly been sprouting within the lake's ecosystem. According to Edgardo Manda, general manager of the authority that manages the lake, "The lowly bamboo has shown to be one of the most resilient and versatile of all plants." He adds, "Bamboo is the grass of hope for the people of Laguna de Bay ... Bamboo [growing along the lake shoreline] naturally helps prevent soil erosion [and thus prevents lake pollution]."
Sometimes the key element in a rebirth can seem the lowliest and least heralded. Bamboo, for instance. But when we talk about another kind of rebirth, one that has eternal and deeply personal consequences—when rebirth is not of an ecosystem but of an individual—to what can we attribute such a profound cause? What is the unheralded presence that can take root and produce such so-called miraculous growth and development? When such rebirth happens—when someone rises out of desperation or illness or degeneration into a new life, one filled with promise and sparkling health—what is the sometimes-unheralded presence that brings such transformation?
As a Christian Scientist, I have come to understand that such a power and influence is what Mary Baker Eddy called the Christ, which is distinct and different from Christ Jesus, the man. Science and Health explains the Christ as "the true idea of God" (p. 316). In this context, we can think of the Christ as our true nature, our spiritual identity. And this Christ, God's "true idea," exists as the roots in a person's heart. When recognized and tapped into, these "roots"—the divine influence in human consciousness—make that person completely new.
