Standing in the center of my yard is a pine tree. When I first came to live in this house twelve years ago the tree stood eight feet tall. My younger brother easily could reach the top to place lights on it for Christmas. As the years have passed the tree has more than doubled in height. It has grown to be a strong presence in the yard and as an evergreen its beauty is evident all year round.
Beside the evergreen stands a maple tree. Each year this tree experiences a cycle of life, it blooms, it fades and then it lies dormant preparing to bloom again. When the maple is in bloom, it appears to be the larger of the two trees. Its presence is the most dominant and it demands one to focus its attention on it. Yet when it slumbers the evergreen stands guard and draws the eyes of all those who look upon the yard.
These two trees bring to mind much more than a tale of two trees. I see similarities between the trees and the events of the human existence. Similarities that make me think about my own world, my own way of being part of this plain of existence.
The maple grows, it blooms each year with a new vigor; it shows the world all the beauty it has inside. As it faces its environment it gathers scars from the elements. Leaves fall, branches break, and the trunk strengthens as the trials of the world pound upon the tree. When you look closely at the tree you can see where the tree healed itself after a branch was trimmed from it last year. It grew around the wound and in sense adapted to what had happened.
In many ways I see myself to be like that maple. As I have lived within this world I have faced many challenges and I have survived. I have strengthened and I have grown into the person I am today. I show my beauty each passing year by my actions and by the way I greet the world. At times I have felt the cut of pain as some part of my life has been removed or altered against my will. Yet I grow and adapt to these changes. I heal and live beyond the moment. I prepare to bloom again.
The evergreen to me represents God’s presence in my life. When I first came to live here the tree was but a small part of the yard; similar to the space that God occupied in my world. As the years have passed the tree has grown; as has God’s importance to me. The Evergreen is always there in full splendor, no matter the time of year. Each year the maple fades, it lies dormant and the Evergreen stands guard watching over it. This reminds me of the way God has watched over me when I have felt the need to step back and contemplate how I will continue to address the world.
I mentioned how at times the maple outshines the evergreen. In my life I have been fortunate to receive many gifts and talents. Some of those talents have allowed me to inhabit a spotlight for short periods of time. It is not that I ever outshine God, it is that I reflect the wondrous nature of God. When I am able to be all that God created me to be, I bloom with the beauty of God. To the eye it may appear that I, like the maple tree, outshine the sentinel, but in reality I merely show to the world what is possible when you allow the Evergreen to grow within your life.
