if you're not laughing...

Botanical Gardens, Wellington, NZ

I have been thinking about trees a lot lately. I have a special love of trees. I don't quite know why I love trees so much, but I do. I think part of it has to do with the fact that trees are often used in the Bible to symbolize righteous people as well as symbolizing God Himself. This is the verse in particular that has been on my mind.

"He [the righteous man] is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither, in all that he does, he prospers." - Psalms 1:3

I was sitting in the backyard earlier this week, and I saw a leaf flutter through the air, and I started thinking about where it had come from. It didn't look like a leaf from any of the trees in our backyard, so I was wondering where it had come from, and the adventures it had gone through to get to my backyard. Oh, to be that leaf and to be able to fly through the air on great adventures!

Then the still, small voice whispered: Yes, that leaf has had great adventures, but without the tree that leaf is dead.

The tree might be grounded to one spot, but every year it grows stronger and taller and mightier, every year the trees roots grow deeper and the tree becomes more able to withstand the storms that come. After years and years, the tree becomes taller than everything around it and it has a clear and farther view of the world.

I would rather be rooted and grounded and a tree planted by streams of living water than be a leaf who will travel far away, but is dead as soon as it leaves the tree. In the movie Sweet Home Alabama, the mom wisely tells her daughter that she can't have both root and wings, and it's true. For my part, I choose the roots because I would rather be firmly planted and present in the lives of those around me than have all the adventures in the world.

That doesn't mean that I don't want to travel on vacation and see other parts of the world, but I do want to be grounded in a society that is transient. I want to have friendships that last my whole life. I want my children to have friends they have known their whole lives. I want to be a stable presence in the lives of the people around me.

Today's title comes from this song:
The Outsiders - Needtobreathe

Peace out yo!

Comments

  1. sarah {on the brightside...}18 September, 2010

    what a beautiful post! & i love that verse! i would rather be a deeply rooted tree too! :)

    thanks for sharing!

    ReplyDelete

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