The school across the street from us was going through a redo of its front parking lot and entrance. One morning as I walked by, I noticed that hay ropes had been placed around the trunks of the nearby small trees to protect them during construction. 

Often as I walk, I use that time to pray, and when I noticed the splendid protection given the trees, I thought about issues my branch Church of Christ, Scientist, was dealing with. The thought came that the purpose of those hay ropes was not unlike the purpose of church. Church protects us from the bulldozers and front-end loaders, so to speak, in our daily lives. It insulates and shields us as we maneuver around the stumbling blocks and pitfalls of human experience, and helps to keep us from being uprooted by the challenges that come. 

So how does it do those things? And what role do I play in Church?