Watering the Dead Stick
A Meditation by Rev. Cameron Trimble
“Do not lose heart. We were made for these times.” — Clarissa Pinkola Estés
Many people I speak with lately carry heavy grief. We see war spread across the Middle East. Our economy feels fragile. Our shared political life grows more volatile and ugly by the day. The systems that once promised stability now feel strained, uncertain, or compromised.
Beneath all of it is a question many people are afraid to say aloud:
What difference can any of us really make?
When the world feels this unstable, the temptation is either to withdraw into despair or to chase after grand solutions that promise to fix everything at once. The wisdom traditions of the past often offer a different path.
One of my favorite stories comes from the early Christian desert communities of the fourth century.
A young monk once approached a spiritual elder seeking guidance for his life. The elder gave him a strange instruction. He handed the young man a dry stick and told him to plant it in the ground and water it every day.
The young monk obeyed.
Day after day he carried water across the desert and poured it over the lifeless piece of wood. Weeks passed. Months passed. Nothing happened. Still the young monk kept watering the stick.
Three years later, something astonishing occurred. The dry stick sprouted. It grew leaves. Then branches. Eventually it became a tree.
The elder later said that the tree still stood in the monastery courtyard as a reminder: faithfulness sometimes grows life in ways we cannot see while we are doing the work.
I think about that story often in times like these.
Many people today feel like they are watering a dead stick. We work for justice but see systems capitulate to corruption. We speak for peace while wars expand. We try to nurture compassion in a culture that often rewards cruelty. It can feel like pouring water onto dry wood.
But the wisdom of the desert elders was simple: faithfulness is not measured by immediate results. Faithfulness is measured by whether we keep showing up with care.
Across history, communities have lived through seasons that felt just as uncertain as this one. Empires rose and fell. Wars reshaped entire societies. Institutions collapsed and new ones slowly took their place.
During those seasons, ordinary people kept doing small acts of goodness that seemed insignificant at the time.
They taught children.
They tended gardens.
They protected one another.
They built communities where dignity and kindness could still survive.
Howard Thurman once described this quiet work as tending the “growing edge.”1
Even in the darkest moments of history, Thurman believed, there are always people keeping the growing edge of humanity alive—people practicing courage, compassion, creativity, and care even when the wider culture forgets how. Those acts rarely dominate the headlines. But over time, they become the seeds of renewal.
Perhaps the hope we need right now is not the hope that everything will suddenly improve. Perhaps it is the hope that our actions still matter, even when the outcomes unfold slowly.
History, more often than we realize, is shaped by people who kept watering the stick long after others had given up. Sometimes, long after they are gone, it becomes a tree.
I am sending you all a great big hug, just in case you need one. Keep the faith, dear ones, and be kind to yourselves.
We are in this together,
Cameron
Reflection Questions
Where do you feel like you are “watering a dry stick” in your life right now?
What practices help you stay faithful to goodness even when outcomes feel uncertain?
Who are the people in your life whose quiet acts of care continue to nourish your own hope?
A Prayer for the Day
A Prayer for Kindness, Courage and Care
God of patience and hidden growth, When the world feels fragile and our efforts seem small, give us the courage to remain faithful. Teach us to keep watering the places that feel dry. Remind us that life often grows slowly, beneath the surface where we cannot see. May our small acts of kindness, courage, and care become seeds of a future we may never fully witness. Amen.
Spiritual Practice
The Practice of Tending the Growing Edge
Today, spend ten minutes noticing where life is still quietly growing around you. Step outside or sit near a window. Take three slow breaths and allow your body to settle.
Then ask yourself three simple questions:
Where do I see kindness happening today?
Where do I see courage quietly unfolding?
Where do I see people caring for one another?
Write down three examples, even small ones. Maybe it is a neighbor helping someone carry groceries. Maybe it is a teacher encouraging a struggling student. Maybe it is a friend who continues showing up with patience in a difficult relationship.
These are not small things. They are the growing edge of humanity.
Finally, choose one small action you will take today to nurture that edge.
You do not need to repair the entire world. You only need to add a little water where life might still grow.
Upcoming Events That Might Be of Interest…
My team and I launched a new experiment we are calling “The Commons.” It’s an online space centered around communities of practice: groups of people who share a common concern, set of problems, or passion for a topic, and deepen their knowledge and expertise by interacting on an ongoing basis. Join the community here.
March 23, 31 and April 7, 2026, 7-8:30pm ET - Rev. Dr. Matthew Fox and I will be hosting another 4-part series on “Visions for the Common Good.” This series will include sessions with David Abram (cultural ecologist), Lynne Twist (global activist), Randy Woodley (Cherokee scholar and wisdom-keeper), and yours truly! All sessions are recorded, and you will get the link if you can’t make it. Learn more here.
March 26, 2026, 7–8:30pm ET – FREE WEBINAR - I’ll be joined by Ruth Dearnley, OBE, Founder and President of Stop the Traffik (London), for “Stop the Exploitation of Children: Disrupting Human Trafficking at Its Source.” As Board Chair of Stop the Traffik USA, this work is deeply personal to me. We cannot rescue our way out of trafficking; we must prevent exploitation by disrupting the systems and financial flows that profit from vulnerability—and congregations can play a powerful role in building community resilience. Ruth will share how technology and data are exposing trafficking networks globally, and how congregations can lead local awareness and prevention campaigns that reduce vulnerability and protect children. I hope you’ll join us. Learn more and register here.
March 28, 2026 - No Kings Protest! We are marching again. Mark your calendars and find the nearest protest site. Make your protest signs. Knit your red hats. Get your water bottles and sunscreen ready. We head back into the streets for peaceful protest on behalf of a more just world. I'll see you out there. Register here.
I drafted a Strategic Framework for Congregations as we move into the coming years of increased authoritarianism around the world. If interested, you can download it here.
Fun Things My Friends Are Up To…
I get to work with such amazing, creative people. This section is my way of celebrating them—no paid promotions, just joy in what they’re creating.
Each spring, Jewish clergy, musicians, and community leaders gather at Hava Nashira, a long-running conference devoted to the sacred practice of communal singing in Jewish life. Participants learn how music, chant, and shared prayer can deepen spiritual life and strengthen community by helping whole communities lift their voices together. I love that this exists in the world, and that my friend, Cantor Rosalie Will, helps lead it. If your path is in the Jewish tradition, check it out.
The Congregation of the Sisters of Saint Joseph of Peace filed a shareholder resolution with Palantir asking the company to publish a human rights impact assessment. Palantir is the AI software behind ICE, predictive policing, algorithm-determined drone killings, merging of private health data, and more. The sisters released a video explaining why they filed the proposal. They are now reaching out to Faith Leaders and asking them to sign the petition in support. The signatures need to be collected by/before March 23.
I have just discovered the coolest group! The All We Can Save Project grew out of the powerful climate anthology All We Can Save and has become a growing network of people committed to climate courage and community leadership. Their work reminds us that responding to the climate crisis isn’t only about policy or technology; it’s also about cultivating the relationships, imagination, and moral courage needed to protect and restore the living world. Check them out here: https://www.allwecansave.earth/
If you are a leader or member of a congregation looking for consulting support in visioning, planning, hiring or staffing, please consider Convergence.
Howard Thurman, “The Growing Edge,” in The Growing Edge (Harper & Row, 1956).
Today the practice of faithfulness that keeps me grounded is reading these daily reflections that challenge me to keep watering the stick. I think that knowing others are also watering a stick in their corner of the world reminds me that I am not alone. Thank you for your faithfulness in your (almost daily) reaching out.
Caroline in Canada
Sending a hug to you, Cameron….thank you for your words of encouragement.