Unique and Different

 

As I have walked my way through the pandemic, I have shared how much I enjoy my neighborhood. The old homes, the beautiful lawns and gardens, the unique characters all add to the feel of the place. One of my favorite things are the large, old trees. All our houses were built in 1957, and it seems that shortly thereafter an Oak tree was planted in the front yard of most. They are magnificent.

The Oak in the foreground of this photograph stands directly cross the street from my front windows. It is beautiful all throughout the year. At Christmas, the young family who live in its house hang lights in its high branches - stars and reindeer. In the Spring the new leaves are that spectacular shade of green.

As I rounded the block at the end of my walk, I was struck with this image. All the Oaks on that side of the street lined up. They are the same age and the same size. They have endured the same heat and cold. They have weathered the same storms. They have stood silent witness to the same changes brought by the past 60+ years. Yet the one tree still holds all its dead leaves; the others, not a leaf one.

We humans are no different. We may be the same age, share the same experiences and look, at first glance, to be the same. But we each respond to life in our way. We bend in the wind and struggle through our different seasons. As much as we appear the same, we are each one different. In some powerful, round about way, this proves our common bond.

Gudjon Bergman writes, “It can be helpful to think of humanity like a pearl necklace. Each human being is a pearl with distinct characteristics, but underneath there is a string that ties us all together, invisible to the naked eye.” If we think of our fellow human beings in this way, we can celebrate our differences while embracing our commonality. Then we can begin to see each life as the Psalmist did when they wrote, “l praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.”

Much beauty and joy in life can be found in this strange and blessed relationship we share through God’s creation: we are at once both unique and one with all our brothers and sisters. Or so says the Oak.

Peace.