The Tree

[Guest guest]

The Tree --

 

"How can I do what you say," asked the child, "and still be me?"

 

"Look at me," said the tree. "I bend in the wind, droop in the rain.

Yet I always remain myself, a tree."

 

"Look at me," said the man. "I can't change."

 

"Look at me," said the tree. "I change every season from green to

brown to green again, from bud to flower to fallen leaf. Yet I always

remain myself, a tree."

 

"I can't love anymore," said the woman. "With my love, I have given

away all that I am."

 

"Look at me," said the tree. "There are robins in my branches, owls

in my trunk, moss and ladybugs living on my bark. They may take what

I have, but not what I am."

 

Whether we know it or not, we are like the tree. Only our pride hangs

on to a false sense of self, wanting to keep everything, refusing to

follow advice or spiritual direction.

 

What we do doesn't matter; how we do it is what counts. Change and

growth is as natural as the sun coming up every morning and the

setting of it every night. Go with what is inside you and listen to

what your heart tells you. Why not if even for just today, reach out

once more to a place that exists outside yourself without fear or

judgment for yourself or from others . . . just once more.

 

We can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark; the real

tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light. - Plato

 

Have a great day...