There was this tree, back at our last duty station. It was massive. It was the kind of tree that makes you stop. It was the kind of tree that I used to always tell my husband I wanted to be buried under. It was that beautiful. It was a solitary tree, in a giant field of rolling green hills. I love that tree.
Out here, where I live now, there is a tree that looks very similar to that other one. Except, the difference between the two is what surrounds them. That tree back in prairie land had nothing around it. No fence. No power lines. No buildings. It was free. It reminded me of how life can thrive even when it feels alone. It was a symbol of something that kept me going. That tree stood through ice, snow, wind, tornadoes, fires and Lord only knows what else, but it was still standing. It was alone. Nothing to shelter it, or protect it, but God.
The tree here that I love is at the corner of a city intersection. It is surrounded by concrete, by power lines, by signals, by cars, by buildings... Every time I see it, I marvel at the beauty of that tree. The branches reaching so high up to heaven, the trunk rooted so strongly in the midst of suffocating humanity. I feel sad for it. Yes, it is growing throughout the chaos that surrounds it. But I know... I know that when we stand alone, with only God to rely on, we grow so differently.
I am that tree. I am both trees. I was alone in the prairie land. I was burned, blown, iced, snowed out, attacked, broken down. I was alone with my God and no one else. Here, I am suffocated by the confines of human action. Concrete, buildings, power lines, etc, all stifle me and cage me. Here, I am growing amidst the chaos.
Funny how trees can reveal so much about ourselves.
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