Our house backs up to Corps of Engineer land that contains many trees. I often sit outside in the back gazing out over the trees and forest, watching the squirrels frolic around, dig for food, and jump from tree to tree seeming to play with one another in what must be a magical forest to them. I like to watch the trees bend as the wind blows through them. I am in awe of their strength and life. There is something very peaceful and spiritual to me about seeing all the trees and hearing the wind whispering through them. It is almost like God is blowing his breath through these tangled trees and branches, sometimes tall and strong, sometimes broken and dangling. These trees and branches are woven together by natural growth and wind-whipped days into a tight net that is seemingly impenetrable.
We have several types of trees behind our house, mostly Hackberry, Elm and Osage Orange trees. Some refer to Osage Orange trees as horse apple trees or hedge apple, which are the kind of trees that have large, rough, grapefruit-looking melons all over them. One day as I was looking up into the trees, I noticed a Horse Apple had fallen off its stem and was caught between the crook of two strong branches that were supporting it in what seemed to be a very firm place. The myriad of branches from this tree and other trees were tangled around these two branches, seeming to create a safety net for what would someday be another fall. Who knows when or where the horse apple will fall. If it falls again, it may be caught by yet a denser set of tangled branches as it gets closer to the base of the tree.
This horse apple caught in the web of tangled trees reminds me of the passage in the bible about Jesus being the vine and we are the branches. You can read about this in John 15: 1-17. In verses 4-10 the bible says,
“Remain in me, as I remain in you. Just as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own unless it remains on the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in me will be thrown out like a branch and whither; people will gather them and throw them into a fire, and they will be burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask for whatever you want, and it will be done for you. By this is my father glorified, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples. As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love.”
As Christians, we are one family, brothers and sisters in Christ, and tangled together in one faith with Jesus as our spiritual vine.
You know, like tangled trees, our lives can be quite tangled sometimes. There are times of turmoil and times of stress, sometimes we are a tangled mess. But as Christians we are called to be that support net, one of those branches in those tangled trees, rooted in faith, an extension of Jesus who is the vine. We are to help others from falling to the ground by offering them care, compassion, and assistance whenever we can. Our faith community is our support group, our lifeline that catches us and others as we fall through life, just as that Horse Apple was caught. But when someone does stumble and fall, we are to help pick them back up. Aren’t we to be part of that network, part of that support group, a branch in that twisted tangle of trees that others can rely and count on? What part are you playing in that tangled tree of support and love for your neighbors, for your friends, for your family, and for those you do not know?
If you have not read this passage in John…or you have, but have not in some time, I encourage you to read it and reflect on what it means to you. Does it speak to you? Does it make you want to change some things you are doing or not doing in your life to help others in some way? John: 15, verse 12 continues with,
“This is my commandment: love one another as I love you.” And verse 17 says, “This I command you: love one another.”
What today have you done as one of the branches of that vine that Jesus so clearly speaks to us about in the bible? The next time you are out in nature and have a minute to observe the trees, reflect on Jesus’s words in this reading about the vine and the branches. If we request the Lord’s presence in us each day and seek to be an extension of his love, we will grow spiritually closer to Him and help build up His awesome kingdom!
See ya on down the trail of trees…
Mike
