The Tree
A tree photographed in Oklahoma by cousin, Jessica Eitzen, sent me into a whirl-wind of thought. Thank you, Jessica for sharing this. Jessica thought of two words to describe this tree – independent and strength.
I see a tree that gives shade, resting in the shade of a passing cloud…..
I see a tree who doesn’t ask why, but grows and flourishes where it is planted.
I see a tree that fulfills its destiny to harbor birds and squirrels.
I see a tree that is nourished at its roots – watered and fed by the Lord.
I see a tree with a message: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ….Philemon 1:3.
What does this have to do with family? To get another perspective, I asked my second son what his thoughts were when he looked at this picture…the tree reminds me of the pasture behind the barn in Watonga (OK) before there were trailers or the tornado. There used to be a tree like that down in the corner and it was all by itself. If you walked down the hill, avoiding the sheep droppings, soaking up the hot sun you were rewarded with cool shade under the tree. And once there, it was a good place for thinking. And I usually thought about some day having my own pasture with a nice tree in the corner. I still think about it once in awhile.
He sees a ‘thinking tree’.
As a little tree, it didn’t know about the storms, the hot Oklahoma sun, the tornadic winds that would ‘sweep through the plains’. As its roots reached for nourishment as the rains soaked the prairie, it continued to grow. When I was a teen, the imagery of the following poem caught my heart:
A poem, lovely as a tree.
A tree whose hungry mouth is pressed
Against the earth’s sweet flowing breast.
A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray.
A tree who may in summer wear
A nest of robin’s in her hair.
Upon whose bosom snow has lain,
Who intimately lives with rain.
Poems are made by fools like me.
But only God can make a tree.
Joyce Kilmer (1886-1918)
While living in Collinsville (IL), we planted a tree in our yard. We began marking its growth by taking a series of pictures of our daughter Anna beside the tree. Slowly the tree grew, and soon stood taller than she did. With our usual sense of humor, when guests came and the conversation lagged, one of our children intoned seriously, “We’ve got a tree in our front yard….” Recently (a year or two) Dan, our oldest, drove by our old house, and sent us a picture of Tyler, our great grandson, standing by ‘the tree in our front yard’. That tree grew and was trimmed and new growth is visible. A tree that remains alive, a tree planted for another’s shade, another generation.
In the Old Testament are so many ‘family trees’ whose begats extend its branches on through generations. A family tree can only be as strong as its roots are solidly rooted. Once I realized that I came from Ham, Shem or Japeth, a g-g-g-g-g-g-g-g-grandchild of Noah. It was an experience to think of as a child, wondering what to call Grandpa Noah. How many greats would there be?
A family tree is a symbol of unity. A counting of those who belong. A growing through the usual events, celebrations and sorrows of a family. Mother pictured her family by painting a tree. She included a broken limb to symbolize our twin to Dan, who died at birth. I love the teddy bear and the swing. (The picture enlarges if clicked on)
How often we sentimentally visit the thought of the last rose of the summer and the last apple on the tree. When a parent dies, the mortality of life is indelibly imprinted in the child’s mind. When one’s spouse leaves in death, how empty life seems. It is beyond sentimentality but through the reality we groan. Then it is time to evaluate our relationship with our Maker. Who do we depend on?
With whom do we share all the common memories of the past? What will take the place of that unconditional love? We feel alone. Just as the tree, we lift our arms in supplication to our Lord.
It is then we realize that we are not alone….”But a time is coming, and has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me.” John 16:32.
We learn just as King Solomon did, that our foundation must be faith in Him who lives above the sun – a spiritual foundation must be in Jesus Christ. We may be alone here, but we are not alone when our Father in Heaven is our hope. And in Jesus, we will be reunited with family beyond number. How I treasure that promise.
Acts 17:26-27 – From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live. God did this so that men would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us.
God determines our birth date and our death date, and he determines the exact places where we shall live to serve God as He has purposed…..just like the tree in the photograph. May we gather strength and joy as we realize that God is not only in control of our lives, but loves us dearly. So dearly He gave his only begotten Son to die on the cross, so that we can learn to be holy, even as our Father in Heaven is holy.