Keep Reaching Into the Sky

The night seemed to last for an eternity and the day was no better as the wind howled outside.  It was a strong South wind, about sixty miles per hour that screamed destruction for more than two days.  There are such winds where I live.  We get them at least once each year and sometimes more.  All I know is that I feel great relief when they quit their treacherous deeds.

Last week was no exception. I felt grateful for the slight damage that happened to my own property.  But, I felt sorrow for some of my neighbors; one whose barn roof was ripped from its lofty perch and hurled into his home and another whose trees were now as horizontal as they were vertical.  It is impossible for me to know all that happened throughout the storm.  I can only reach out to those I can while cleaning and trimming my own little plot of earth as well.

So, about two days after the wind ended I was trimming my lawn; it looked and felt dry after such hot dry wind thrashed it hard.  Still, it was gaining in height and needed to be cut.  So I obliged it in the cool of the early morning when my mind could wander free without the oppression of hammering heat.

The constant hum of my lawn mower seems to allow me to focus on my thoughts and enjoy nature's connection with indulgence.  I also get the chance to look in detail at my yard since I make pass after pass in the same area.  The repetition gives me a look at the same thing from different angles and at seemingly concurrent time.  I get a good look at the trees and other life in my yard.

It was the trees that captured my attention on this particular day.  The pine trees had just finished pushing needles out of the sides of their upward reaching spring candles.  This year they have pushed another eight to twelve inches toward the sun. But I also noticed that there was a change in their shape. Something I haven't seen or perhaps noticed before.

Each of the new sprouts were bowed in the direction of the wind.  It was a sign of their struggle against a mighty adversary!  But, there was a greater sign than that from my view. The final two or three inches of each shoot had changed its direction and were now reaching straight up into the sky again.  It has created a seemingly uncompleted number five; these trees pushed for the sky without delay during and after their struggle.  Such is their life. They know their course!

Our course must be the same. Each one of us must bear the hard winds of life.  They will do damage to be sure, but it will not detour us much if we maintain reaching for the sky as our natural path and opportunity.  We can stand as my trees!

I glided past these "teaching trees" one last time as I was making my way to the garage.  As I gazed at them through discovering eyes I saw one more thing.  The struggle caused curve had given them new character that wasn't displayed before. It has made them more interesting, more beautiful and somehow more noble than before.  Then, I thought of you and knew that your adversities had done the same because you keep reaching upward into the sky as well!