Oct
12
2021
Beautiful Debris
Posted in Faith 4 Comments
The debris is all over my driveway.
The debris is all over the road when I go on my morning walk.
There is discoloration.
Long sticks are scattered about.
I hear them falling all throughout the day.
I know that anyone standing underneath would get a lump on their head.
They make a popping sound as I drive over them with my car.
Something so beautiful can be so messy.
I have a love/hate relationship with the large walnut tree on our front lawn.
For whatever reason, there is an abundance of walnuts this year.
This year the squirrels are feasting in grand style.
This year I have to take extra care wherever I step.
Even my daughter-in-love mentioned how loud the walnuts are when they fall to the ground.
The outer shell is removed and the walnuts are stored or buried by some squirrel family.
The outer shell is my nemesis.
The brown walnut stain sticks to the bottom of your shoe.
The stain from the walnuts leave brown splotches everywhere.
Everywhere.
A good strong rain will wash most of it away.
By November, the walnuts will have fallen; but the long sticks remain.
A rainbow after a rainstorm lingers.
The morning dew remains on the ground.
The fog hangs in the air until the sun seems to melt it away.
However, there is no redeeming value to a walnut tree.
There, I said it.
The tree is a nuisance.
It has never been one of my favorites.
The fact that it is so close to the driveway never helped me to be more fond of it.
Until the day my youngest daughter asked her dad for a tree swing.
I remember when the wooden swing, on two long ropes, was attached to a sturdy branch.
I remember looking out the dining room window and smiling at the sight.
Debris and discoloration aside, this tree was now home to a tree swing.
It was the swing everyone wanted to swing on, despite having a swing set in the backyard.
My daughter asked.
Her dad answered.
My daughter used the swing to soar to the clouds.
Everyone became like a little child when they swung on that tree swing.
I thought of all of this when I took my morning walk.
I walked around walnut debris on a large stretch of road.
I felt as if I was trying to walk on a flagstone path.
My foot went this way and that as I tried to step only where I could safely go.
I imagined how silly I must have looked as I tread so carefully among the discarded shells.
I imagined how ridiculous I must have looked as I walked over and around the walnuts.
Walking on a walnut can cause you to fall or twist your ankle.
Something so beautiful can be so dangerous.
I remember my friend telling me that the wood of that tree is highly sought after.
At the time, my husband did not have a planer in his workshop to plane rough wood.
Now, he can buy rough wood from a local farm and plane it down as he sees fit. .
Now, in my living room, I have beautiful walnut tables, made by my husband from another tree.
Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.
(1 John 3:2)
We are messy.
We are not very beautiful as times.
We leave debris all over the place.
We walk gingerly around situations and other people so as not to stumble and fall.
We are so much like the walnut tree.
On first glance, we are troublesome.
It is often hard to see our beauty and worth.
But God…
To God, we are so much more than what meets the eye.
One day, we will be seen as we really are, the way God sees us.
It will be magnificent.
We are His image bearers, after all.
It’s hard to see His image under all the debris.
It’s hard to see the beauty when sin mars His image in us.
But it’s there; you just have to look.
Look hard; try to see what God sees.
And smile.
This reminds me of a large sycamore tree at my former house. Every 2 years or so the bark would shed, leaving the pieces all over the grass. Some times we had to rake them up so as not to interfere with the lawnmower. But then I noticed how interesting some of the pieces were, with different colors and holes. I collected them (still have some), and painted them in soft washes and put them into collages. I love making art out of natural things such as dried leaves and grasses. IIt’s called repurposed art. God does this with us, I think. He can take people and remake them into a new life with new beauty…thank You, dear Father!
Oh, Sue, how wonderful!
I would love to see one of those collages!
You are so talented.
Gina
Oh Gina, so true. Your post hits home in so many ways. We had a messy twin oak tree when we lived in Ohio. Slow to loose leaf, it was messy all winter long. But quick to loose branches; messy that way too. But after Bill installed a swing on one of its mighty branches, it became precious to each of us.
Thank you for that memory, Messy,..But God!
Susie, I’m so glad this Whisper brought back memories for you.
Kindred spirits, you and I.
A simple tree swing changed our outlook.
Yes indeed: messy…but God.
Gina