As the light turned red we slowed to a stop. My eyes traveled slowly up from their intense study of my worn shoes. Moving slowly across the aisle and beyond the vacant beige seat. Slightly to the left and over the shoulder of the bored looking brunette waiting impatiently for her destination, there it stood. Through the murky grey of a salt smeared window I saw her standing majestically tall and strong.
Although there were no vibrancies of green, the tree was alive in form and beauty. Strong and sturdy, the trunk broke off into a tangled web of branches splaying their limbs extensively in every direction. At first I thought this queen was standing immovably proud, but I then noticed her slow and subtle sway as she gracefully shifted in counterpoint to the wind. Her extreme edges trembled in excitement each time a breeze graced its way through the tree. No this beauty was not unmovable. She serenely played her part in the beautiful symphony of God's creation.
But this brief scene was not quite perfect. Snagged and torn among the tall branches was a piece of plastic on which, though unable to be read by me, was written "WalMart". Man's intrusion, like so many times before, was a mar on God's wonderful work. Like a flayed flag this frustrated bag flapped and fought it's futile fight against the forces of nature. While the tree gently moved to the rhythm of the wind, this bag was a torrent of motion and unheard sound as it was beaten and battered by that same breeze.
As the light turned green, and this contrast faded to the background, I closed my eyes. The scene, this moment, this lesson in truth remained vivid in my mind. How often do I live my life like that bag, thrusting myself this way and that by each and every care and circumstance that comes my way? Why is it so difficult for me to live like that tree, not unbendingly proud but rather living still, gently swaying to this dance that God has orchestrated we call life? Let it not be so today, Lord. Help me to stay focused on you, living a life centered and rooted deep. Help me not to be driven by the desires and false delights this world will dangle before me. Help me to be still, that I might know that You are God.
hey, brother in Christ! I have subscribed to your blogs, so you might get a few comments now and then from me ..hope you don't mind too much=P
While reading through this, and afterwards I thought of some verses I read in jeremiah. I'd encourage people after reading this blog to read through these verses
Jeremiah 17.5-8
7 This is what the Lord says; "Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who depends on flesh for his stregnth and whose heart turns away from the Lord. 8 He will be like a bush in the wastelands; he will not see prosperity when it comes. He will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives.
7 "But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him.
8 He will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes, its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit."
..hope you don't mind too much=P
