Tree Parable

Tree Parable

Some say the created world appeals to the male psyche.  That they love the ‘great outdoors’ of woods and forests, rivers and glades.  Whatever of that. I like them.  The world of creation is life-giving.  We have often looked to places of nature to notice and understand how life and death, destruction and regrowth can be noticed.  This can be a source of comfort and vitality for us as we experience the cycles of life.  The following  free verse celebrates such a viewpoint.  As it was part of my experience of a prayer retreat, I have given it a religious perspective. Others may see further meanings.

Tree Parable

 Tree

Tilted

And twisted

By the wind

In the weather.

You lean.

Your branches

Have taken

Breaks and snaps

Bearing in you

Dead wood.

Yet

You are also strong.

Branches bear

A bounty

Of fresh leaves

Where creatures

Can find

Shelter

And shade.

Your trunk

Is tall timber

And sprouts

From roots

In the grass

Of the meadowy bank.

You

Are like us.

We too

Bear buffeting

From the storms of life.

We too

Have broken in places.

We have

Permanent scars,

Like dead wood,

In our body

And our soul.

And yet

God’s grace is planted

Deep within us.

We are planted in

And built on

The love of God.

So that

God’s fullness

May flow

Into the foliage

Of the countenance

We show

To our world.

Simon C.J. Falk 8 September 2014

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