Unimposing Glory

I have this mild obsession with trees! There, I've said it! Some may think it a bit strange or quirky but in many many ways they speak to me. For instance, one day as I

sat looking out at the beauty of nature my eyes kept wondering back and forth but there was a particular tree that in itself was rather plain and looked out of place but I was constantly drawn back to it and couldn't keep my eyes off of it try tho I did, because it certainly wasn't attractive. Sure, it was one of the largest trees in the area with boughs spreading as wide as they were high but still there was nothing else that stood out that would make me desire to look at it. But here I sat fixated on this particular tree. It made me wonder what, in it's unimposing life, had it been privy to. I began to imagine a woman sitting on the ground leaning on its trunk and resting under the shade of its boughs. She had an urn of some type held tightly in her grip and tears streamed down her cheeks. She was speaking words that I couldn't hear and as she spoke she lifted the lid of the urn and poured out ashes of some type onto the ground all around the tree. She replaced the lid on the urn, wiped her eyes and then she was gone. What was she doing I thought? Were they the ashes of someone who was dear to her? As quickly as my thoughts were flooded with questions I again saw a very young couple laughing and dancing around the base of the tree. A few moments later the young man swept the girl up into his arms and sweetly but lovingly kissed her. She blushed as he let her down and together they carved their initials into the trunk of the tree, preserving their love for a lifetime there. Again, questions came and they disappeared. I then saw a tire swing hanging from one of the lowest branches and children were swinging and laughing as they played beneath the limbs. I couldn't take my eyes off of them and it drew me back to my own childhood memories of carefree days when we played under trees out side until darkness began to fall. As quickly as the children had come, they were gone. What was it about this tree that evoked so many visions? In a flash I could see a storm coming with loud bursts of thunder and instantaneously the sound was followed by a burst of lightning. The lightning hit the tree and I heard a loud cracking sound. The light temporarily blinded my sight but in a moment the storm was gone. The tree however was left  with what looked like a huge gash across the middle of its trunk. A direct hit like that would have ordinarily taken any other tree out but this one still stood. What was it about this tree? It had seen sorrow, it had been touched by love, it had seen joy and now it had felt pain if trees could indeed feel pain. It was seemingly just an ordinary tree but in my thoughts and eyes it had seen and lived through every conceivable experience good and bad. How long must it have endured the elements? How many seasons had it seen? Who planted it there? So many questions. . . . . . . . And then. . . . . "For he grew up before him like a young plant, and like a root out of dry ground;he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,and no beauty that we should desire him." (Isaiah 53)  This wonderful, and unimposing tree had surely reminded me of my Savior. It's majesty wasn't in its appearance it was in its life and what it had been through. It held a Glory that my eyes or anyone's eyes couldn't necessarily see but it's life spoke of anything but the ordinary. It's life had given so much to so many. Even scarred and marred by pain and suffering it's life resounded with joy and laughter. My eyes couldn't turn away from this plain, ordinary and unimposing tree because it was meant to stand as a reminder for me that day of an ordinary life that brought extraordinary love. Yes, I do indeed have this mild obsession with trees but in the case of this one tree, I'm particularly unapologetic about my obsession. You're welcome!