What an odd tree! An oak, by its leaves, but trained to imitate a pine. It bulges near the base and as it climbs it somehow tapers to a point. One wonders if gardeners, with rope and patient care, compelled this tree to so shape itself, but I think not. It was, rather, the result of students passing by, lost in lofty pursuits.
The tree, confined to one spot of ground, could not voice its desire to rise to the intellectual heights of the humans passing by. It sulked for a few years - that bulging base - but then resigned its sorrow. It knew that God in his wisdom had made it a tree, and since it could not go to class or compete with human gifts, it decided instead to be the best it could be as a tree.
As it yearned for many years to please its master, God, it grew up tall and straight, ever reaching for heaven. In its humility, it accepted its role as a tree. It grew nearer to God and served to remind the endless stream of students passing by of He who had created them.
A very few learned their place too, humbled by who God had made them. They shaped their gifts for many years, as patient as the tree. They came to stand up tall and straight, ever reaching for heaven. Those who saw as they passed by soon took the message too, and endlessly spread through countless years the comforting, sustaining knowledge: We are who God made us, and if we do our best, we will reach heaven.
No comments:
Post a Comment