The Trembling Giant

We called the dinner for the ladies at church New Faces/Familiar Faces – a much, much better choice than New Faces/Old Faces.  The whole idea was to welcome the ladies who had recently joined our church and help them feel more a part of the women’s activities –  a time of fellowship and fun and a devotional - and eating, of course.  Where two or three are gathered, we eat.  If you simply combine being southern and being Baptist, the result is a meal.

After we ate, Meredith McLendon gave a short devotional.  She talked about the stand of aspen trees in Utah that is considered the largest living single organism.  They are all connected by the same root system. Pretty amazing.  The first time I heard about those trees, I thought I had heard wrong.  I did some research.  Turns out, I had heard right.  Those 47,000 trees really are connected by the same root system. The stand of aspens in Fishlake National Forest is called Pando, which comes from Latin for “spread out.”  The  other name for that stand of trees is “The Trembling Giant.”  (These are quaking aspens, so the trembling part makes sense.)

There were some things that Meredith did not have time to mention since she had a short time to speak.  Those aspen trees came from a single tree thousands of years ago.  Scientists believe that the  first tree was probably destroyed by fire.  But the roots were still there and they spread out as far as 100 feet.  They sent out shoots which grew into new trees.  And as time went on, the theory is that lightning strikes caused other fires.  Trees were destroyed – but not the roots.  Those roots got busy and started a bunch of new trees.  And on and on for 80,000 years or so.   Every tree is genetically identical.  Every one.  Because underneath, where you can’t even see, they have a common root system.  It feeds them and anchors them and makes them thrive.

But there is a problem.  The stand of aspens is in danger.  The trees are getting old and dying off.  There are not enough new trees to replace them.  Guess why.  The trees are not being destroyed.  Modern firefighting and fire prevention have saved those trees.  Except they are dying.  They only reproduce from the roots and the new shoots cannot grow in shade.  The grown trees are making it impossible for the young trees to survive.  Who knew that fire could be a tree’s best friend?  

So, what does an aspen stand have to do with you and me?  How many times have you been through a “fire” and thought you had encountered a full-fledged disaster?   And later, you could see that the “fire” brought about a lot of growth.   Things have changed; they will never be the same.  But, wait.  Something is springing up from the ruins.  The disaster is no less awful, but in the space it left, something good can emerge.  We are rooted in God’s love.  We all have the same Father; we are kinfolk.  And because of that connection, we always have somewhere to turn when things go wrong.  Someone to turn to for comfort.  Someone to anchor us, feed us, and help us thrive.   

It takes years to grow an aspen tree, and while it gets taller, it roots spread out.  The roots are as wide as the tree is tall.  God’s love for us is not just deep and wide.  It is infinite.  He loves you unconditionally and forever.  So when lightning strikes and you begin to feel defeated, be an aspen.  Reach out with faith rooted in God’s unending love for you and see what grows in the Sonshine.

Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.  1 Corinthians 12:27

A Lesson from Charley



Meet Charley.  He collects shoes.  He doesn't chew them up.
He just makes a nice little nest and sits with them.

It was January and one of the coldest days in history -  literally. To make it worse, I was at home with a case of pneumonia that I was trying hard to shake. I had things to do. I needed to be at work. Feeling miserable and tired of medicine that didn't seem to help. About 6:30 that morning, when it was still about eleven degrees, my husband stepped outside to leave for work. He was almost immediately back inside. He said, "There's a dog out here!"  I said to bring him inside and he said I was too sick to take care of him. While we were discussing it, the dog walked inside and had a seat in front of me. End of discussion. He was inside.

 

Zorro and Lily, the resident pups, checked out the new guy.  He passed their inspection. And then he promptly fell asleep on my feet. That furry fellow was the color of red pine straw and had a sweet face with beautiful, trusting brown eyes. What he did not have was a collar. I had no idea who he was or where he lived. So, while he rested, I got busy trying to find out who owned him.  Of all places, his owner was found by checking Craigslist.

 

His name turned out to be Charley.  He lived about four blocks away and had been missing since early afternoon the day before.  Poor Charley had spent the night outside with temperatures in the single digits at times.  His family was so afraid that he had not made it, but they had hope.  Charley stayed with me all day and I fell hopelessly in love with him. 

 

Fast forward about six months.  One afternoon, Charley's "mom" showed up at my door  She was distraught.  Charley's "dad" was the athletic director at a local university and had accepted a job in Fort Worth, Texas.  They were from Fort Worth and were happy to be going back home.  But, they could not take Charley. He needed a home and she asked if we would adopt him.  My immediate reaction was, "YES we will.  Of course, we will.  I LOVE him!"  But what I said was, "We already have two dogs, so I really need to talk to my husband." So I did.  My husband said, "We already have two dogs. We do not need three dogs." 

 

Missing a shoe at our house?  Just
look for Charley.  He probably has it.

I began building my case for adopting Charley.  And wearing down my husband.  He finally said that it wasn't like he was homeless.   I said, "It is exactly like he is homeless!  He IS homeless!"  When I finally mentioned that I had no idea that my sweet husband was such a hard-hearted wonder, he finally said that if they could not find Charley a home that we would take him.  So I mentioned that we had already saved Charley's life and I just didn't see how we could do that for him and not be willing to give him a home.  After all, God loves Charley and took care of him when he was in trouble,  And He used us to do it.  I might have mentioned that God had introduced us to Charley because He knew Charley was going to need a home.  On July 12th, Charley became a part of our family.  My husband walked him down to our house because I felt like they needed some bonding time. It worked.

 

When you get right down to it, I'm not so different from Charley.  I find myself out in the cold, needing help, and hoping for someone to rescue me before it is too late.  I need to be adopted.  So God steps in.  And He is always there to take care of me, give me a home, and be my Father.  I am part of the best "family" ever! 

 
And now I am off to have some "bonding" time with my Father.

How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! –1 John 3:1