States of Repair

 

On my walk I came across this line of trees in three separate conditions. At first I had to figure out what I was seeing. Then my mind went back to almost a year ago, to the event known in North Texas as “Snowvid”. That unusually harsh freeze and the week of record setting low temperatures did much damage to homes, businesses and flora alike.

These trees, lined up side by side, survived. One appears to have been unscathed by the harsh conditions. It is green and growing again, top to bottom. One has been fighting the good fight to come back, the dead section looks as if it is being absorbed by new and green branches. The tree in the middle is starting back on the road to health and wholeness, but only after having a damaged section pruned away. All three are alive. All three are growing. All three are in their own state of becoming.

I could not help but think of how we humans are much the same. At different times, our lives can feel to be in varying states of repair. We sometimes come through difficult and challenging times unscathed, hardly skipping a beat as we continue forward on our journey. Sometimes we come through with a little damage, but our strengths overcome and the strong and healthy in our lives takes over. We grow back even stronger than before. But sometimes the damage is deep and some pruning is called for in order to make a return to health possible. We feel it, and we don’t look the same for awhile, but it allows us to be renewed and to be restored. It doesn’t happen overnight, but we do bounce back. We survive.

John writes, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.” It is good to know that the one who tends to us in our various conditions is the very one who lovingly created us. Knowing this can help us survive the “Snowvids” of our lives. Knowing this can bring us hope.

Peace.