rest in peace

the local electric company asked permission to take down a grand oak tree in front of our church a few weeks ago. the tree was ancient. five feet thick at the base. last fall it lost a limb in a storm. the limb was bigger than most trees in our area.

so SMECO wanted the tree down because it didn't get along with its power lines and it would just be a matter of time before the tree went on to "tree heaven."

last week, the professional tree movers came in and took it down. it was hard for me to see this magnificent ancient oak being turned into firewood. i don't know how old the tree was (i think the local paper is gonna do a story on the tree and has counted its rings) but part of me was sad to this grand friend go.

yesterday, as i was driving by, i noticed someone had placed flowers and a note on the stump. (kind of appropriate since the tree sits on the edge of a cemetery.)



by the time i got to this picture, the note was gone. so i got to wondering about the person who left the flowers. obviously a tree lover. but what else? was he or she angry that this grand tree was reduced to a stump? grieving? was it a neighbor who had admired the tree for years? a child who walked past it on the way to school? who would take the time to write a note and offer flowers to a tree - a tree that was much older than any other living thing touched by its shade?

i'm reminded of Isaiah's words in Isaiah 40 - words that i read as part of every funeral liturgy that i've officiated . . .

"Shout that people are like the grass.

Their beauty fades as quickly
as the flowers in a field. . . .

The grass withers and the flowers fade,

but the word of our God stands forever.” - Isa 40:6,8 (NLT)

can we? will we have the same respect for the oldest of our species living among us? must we wait until they whither before we honor their memory? will the flowers only show up at the stump? the grave stone?

go visit someone who's lost a limb in a storm, someone weathered and beaten, gnarled and gray.

bring flowers