They still stand, just south of the middle stoplight in Pratt, America, along Highway 54, this grove of evergreen trees. Years ago, I wrote about the lesson I learned from the trees, about their glorious diversity, back when they each wore a different color of Christmas lights. And about how, even wearing different colors, in different species, and with different shapes, they all looked to the same sun for light, and how their roots, intertwined, helped them to hold each other up. About how humans could take a lesson from this grove of trees.
But things change, as things must, with the passing of time. Two of the trees are gone now, lost I think in 2001, when we lost two other towering symbols. Their circle is broken, their underground support network weakened. Two new trees, not evergreens, have been planted. And they no longer wear colorful lights; they are all now tastefully adorned with white.
We can see two kinds of lessons in these changes to the evergreen grove. On the one hand, we can say that the breaking in the circle symbolizes the breach of trust in America since 9-11, the demolishing of our invincibility, the weakening of our global leadership. The planting of new, non-evergreens could say that evergreens are out of fashion, like patriotism, responsibility for one’s actions, word bonds, or professing one’s faith, killed by political correctness. The white lights could simply mean that it’s cheaper for the city to only maintain one color of light, city-wide. Or it could stand for the homogenization of our culture, where instead of celebrating our diversity, we elevate minority viewpoints while stifling, even silencing, the majority. It could mean that we have lost America in the fashionable trend not to expect diverse groups to assimilate, but are instead encouraging them to remain separate, isolated, in their ethnic pride. It could symbolize the fact that, in much of America today, there are no wrong answers, everyone is right, no one loses, children must be passed to the next grade to preserve their self-esteem, no matter whether or not they understand what they need to know to survive in life. It could mean that it’s no longer a grove of Christmas trees, but a group of “holiday symbols.”
On the other hand, the positive hand, the grove could teach us that change is inevitable, that torches must pass to new and different generations, and that there is beauty in that passing. The gaps in the grove might tell us that, though some of them fell, the grove itself remained, roots strong, still surviving and overcoming, much like America after 9-11. The single color could mean that, in America today, or perhaps very soon, people will indeed, in the words of Martin Luther King, Jr., “be judged not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” It could mean that we no longer see colors, but simply people.
The grove could teach us that both lessons are true in different ways. The America of today, six years after 9-11, is no longer solidly behind the war on terrorism. Yet, due to those terrorist attacks, we are suspicious of those different from ourselves. Economic pressures and modern life shows us in graphic ways every day that there are indeed wrong answers, there are winners and losers, and that some do fail at tasks they have attempted. Yet, America is like any family: when times are good, or at least, average, we squabble, quibble, whine and fuss. But when someone or something threatens that family, the family is as unified as a herd of musk ox, forming a circle with the weaker ones in the center and the rest of the herd facing the threat with horns and hoofs. Though we fear those different from ourselves, we take the chance to get to know them, help them if they need it, and they in turn help others. Our attitude of no wrong answers is simply a path we have taken in an attempt to overcome the law of nature that only the strong survive. Without giving Him credit, we are exemplifying, though perhaps in a flawed way, the essence of the nature of the Christian God, that He is not willing that any should perish.
That evergreen grove has been around for a long, long time. I’m sure others have gleaned wisdom from the branches, and that it will be there to teach for many years to come, even if it changes from an evergreen to a deciduous or mixed grove. And maybe that it its greatest lesson: that it endures no matter what life and humans throw at it. Lights or not, it is beautiful. Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza, Ramadan—whatever holiday, it celebrates with dignity. Maybe we really do need to learn the lesson of the evergreen grove.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Monday, December 22, 2008
The Evergreen Grove - Lesson Two
Three years ago during the holiday season, I was impressed by the Christmas light-wrapped evergreen trees in what used to be called Pelican Park, just north of the swimming pool. To me that Christmas the variety of the trees and the lights called to mind and celebrated the diversity of humanity.
This year, the trees are showing me a different lesson — the fact that, despite our diversity, we all share certain commonalities, that the differences between us blur as life passes on. For instance, with the passing of time, the bulbs have faded, to the point that the pink and red are almost indistinguishable. You have to look close to tell the difference between the white and yellow, or the blue and green. As they burnt out, bulbs have been replaced on the strings of lights. When the proper colors were not available, substitutes were used. Therefore, this season, we have some white lights among the pink, some yellow among the orange, some green among the blue. This is exactly the way humans are becoming. Very few of us, especially in the melting pot we call America, are of pure heritage. In fact, some of us celebrate the diversity of our ancestors, serving the lutefisk of our Swedish heritage alongside the tamales of our Mexican forebears.
There are other blendings not so obvious. Some of us come from a farming background, but may share more of that childhood in common with a city child from Arkansas than we do with a child from today’s family corporation farm. That child may have more in common with the child of a Wall Street banker than with my father, who farmed from the twenties to the sixties. Those from around the world who are alumni of a particular school may be more similar, at least on game day, than they are to their neighbors. Single parents across the country, even across the world, share concerns that the married couple across the street will never experience. All parents, married or single, share common fears and hopes. All children, from toddlers to octogenarians, who have lost a parent feel a common loss.
And there is a deeper lesson, beyond the trappings of the now imperfect lights. Once those trees were just saplings, twenty or thirty feet apart. Now, not only have their root systems intertwined, the trees themselves touch. They are growing closer together, and they will continue to do so. As humans age, we also grow closer to those around us, if we allow ourselves to do so. As youngsters, we distrusted those different from us. They appeared different, therefore they could not be at all like me. Yet, as years go by and experiences shape us, just like the wind and rain and lightning and heavy snow shape this grove of trees, we grow closer together, no longer isolated individuals, but a cohesive group that draws shelter from our similarities and no longer fears our differences.
Just as it did three years ago, the same sun still shines on these trees, and the same Son still shines His light for all humanity. These trees still draw their nourishment from the source underground, and all humankind has the opportunity to draw on the same stream of Living Water. The Bible says that every man shall acknowledge Jesus as Lord. Until that day comes, I hope that we can all continue to grow together and find our common ground. And that is lesson two of the evergreen grove — harmony and hope.
This year, the trees are showing me a different lesson — the fact that, despite our diversity, we all share certain commonalities, that the differences between us blur as life passes on. For instance, with the passing of time, the bulbs have faded, to the point that the pink and red are almost indistinguishable. You have to look close to tell the difference between the white and yellow, or the blue and green. As they burnt out, bulbs have been replaced on the strings of lights. When the proper colors were not available, substitutes were used. Therefore, this season, we have some white lights among the pink, some yellow among the orange, some green among the blue. This is exactly the way humans are becoming. Very few of us, especially in the melting pot we call America, are of pure heritage. In fact, some of us celebrate the diversity of our ancestors, serving the lutefisk of our Swedish heritage alongside the tamales of our Mexican forebears.
There are other blendings not so obvious. Some of us come from a farming background, but may share more of that childhood in common with a city child from Arkansas than we do with a child from today’s family corporation farm. That child may have more in common with the child of a Wall Street banker than with my father, who farmed from the twenties to the sixties. Those from around the world who are alumni of a particular school may be more similar, at least on game day, than they are to their neighbors. Single parents across the country, even across the world, share concerns that the married couple across the street will never experience. All parents, married or single, share common fears and hopes. All children, from toddlers to octogenarians, who have lost a parent feel a common loss.
And there is a deeper lesson, beyond the trappings of the now imperfect lights. Once those trees were just saplings, twenty or thirty feet apart. Now, not only have their root systems intertwined, the trees themselves touch. They are growing closer together, and they will continue to do so. As humans age, we also grow closer to those around us, if we allow ourselves to do so. As youngsters, we distrusted those different from us. They appeared different, therefore they could not be at all like me. Yet, as years go by and experiences shape us, just like the wind and rain and lightning and heavy snow shape this grove of trees, we grow closer together, no longer isolated individuals, but a cohesive group that draws shelter from our similarities and no longer fears our differences.
Just as it did three years ago, the same sun still shines on these trees, and the same Son still shines His light for all humanity. These trees still draw their nourishment from the source underground, and all humankind has the opportunity to draw on the same stream of Living Water. The Bible says that every man shall acknowledge Jesus as Lord. Until that day comes, I hope that we can all continue to grow together and find our common ground. And that is lesson two of the evergreen grove — harmony and hope.
Sunday, December 21, 2008
The Lesson of the Evergreen Grove
Though this essay was first published several years ago, these trees just keep providing lessons.
They stand near a busy intersection in Pratt, America. Just north of the empty, snow-dusted swimming pool, they serve as a stepping stone in a path of parks stretching from the highway that borders the south edge of town to the capstone park adjoined by Highway 54 as it cuts Pratt in half. They must be visible from some of the hospital windows, just above them on the hill, these seven stately evergreens, each wrapped in a different color of festive lights.
As I drove past them last night, intent on just where on the racks and shelves of the busy stores I would find each item on my list, I was stopped short in my mental rush by the simple beauty of the arrangement. Each tree is unique in its own right. Though all are old and tall, some tower above the others. Some are full and round, others tall and spindly. Some cluster together, but two stand aloof at opposite ends of the grove. Some have branches that drape down, others' branches sweep upwards as if in praise. Each is a testament to the glorious diversity of evergreen trees.
Then the lights — white, yellow, red, orange, pink, green, blue. Some are spaced precisely around the trees, others splashed on with a hurried hand. The orange lights blaze out for all to see. The blue ones are so subtle, they can't be seen until night is well advanced. Together they present the same colors that make up the spectrum and the rainbow.
Shopping finished and more at peace, I drove back past the lights — and there it was. Glorious diversity. God made each of us as unique as this grove of evergreens, the tree that symbolizes the never-failing quality of His love for us. Some of us are round and full, others tall and spindly. Like the trees, some of us gather together, while others stand aloof. Some of our shoulders droop, while others of us lift our hands in praise. We are covered in many colors of skin, just as the trees wear different colors of lights. Yet each of us is a testament to the glorious diversity of the world we live in.
As this Christmas season rushes by us so fast that the bright colors begin to blur, I hope we can take the time to appreciate the world God made for us — the glorious diversity and the marvelous complexity of it. Each year near midnight on December 24, the entire world does seem to pause, to hold its breath for just a moment. Warring guns fall silent, and people around the world stop. Some give thanks that a baby was born nearly 2,000 years ago, just so He could die for us. Some people may even look heavenward, wondering when that bright star may come again.
Until it does, maybe from time to time we can remember the lesson of this grove of evergreens. Although each of them is different, they draw their nourishment from the same source underground, where their roots intertwine to help each of them stand. They all draw warmth and life-giving light from the same sun. They're not so very different from us, this grove of trees. And as they stand together to celebrate this season, their lights send a message to all of us.
They stand near a busy intersection in Pratt, America. Just north of the empty, snow-dusted swimming pool, they serve as a stepping stone in a path of parks stretching from the highway that borders the south edge of town to the capstone park adjoined by Highway 54 as it cuts Pratt in half. They must be visible from some of the hospital windows, just above them on the hill, these seven stately evergreens, each wrapped in a different color of festive lights.
As I drove past them last night, intent on just where on the racks and shelves of the busy stores I would find each item on my list, I was stopped short in my mental rush by the simple beauty of the arrangement. Each tree is unique in its own right. Though all are old and tall, some tower above the others. Some are full and round, others tall and spindly. Some cluster together, but two stand aloof at opposite ends of the grove. Some have branches that drape down, others' branches sweep upwards as if in praise. Each is a testament to the glorious diversity of evergreen trees.
Then the lights — white, yellow, red, orange, pink, green, blue. Some are spaced precisely around the trees, others splashed on with a hurried hand. The orange lights blaze out for all to see. The blue ones are so subtle, they can't be seen until night is well advanced. Together they present the same colors that make up the spectrum and the rainbow.
Shopping finished and more at peace, I drove back past the lights — and there it was. Glorious diversity. God made each of us as unique as this grove of evergreens, the tree that symbolizes the never-failing quality of His love for us. Some of us are round and full, others tall and spindly. Like the trees, some of us gather together, while others stand aloof. Some of our shoulders droop, while others of us lift our hands in praise. We are covered in many colors of skin, just as the trees wear different colors of lights. Yet each of us is a testament to the glorious diversity of the world we live in.
As this Christmas season rushes by us so fast that the bright colors begin to blur, I hope we can take the time to appreciate the world God made for us — the glorious diversity and the marvelous complexity of it. Each year near midnight on December 24, the entire world does seem to pause, to hold its breath for just a moment. Warring guns fall silent, and people around the world stop. Some give thanks that a baby was born nearly 2,000 years ago, just so He could die for us. Some people may even look heavenward, wondering when that bright star may come again.
Until it does, maybe from time to time we can remember the lesson of this grove of evergreens. Although each of them is different, they draw their nourishment from the same source underground, where their roots intertwine to help each of them stand. They all draw warmth and life-giving light from the same sun. They're not so very different from us, this grove of trees. And as they stand together to celebrate this season, their lights send a message to all of us.
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