The Tree

A certain tree has become a source of inspiration to me. 

Somehow the tree keeps popping up in everything I do. Its sort of a Family tree.  Its on the outer road Highway 18 at Baldwin Lake near Big Bear Lake in Southern California. 

We called it The Tree, because my dad, who was an avid Jogger used to take a long run on Saturday mornings, when us kids were sleeping in.

It was about a 10 mile run he would go on, mostly by himself, but sometimes by one of us boys. There were four of us and sometimes we got to go with him.

The tree there became a a rest stop to my dad, then a safety spot, a sad spot, then later, a memory.

It served as a rest stop for him because it was literally the ONLY tree for miles, where my dad could rest, sneak around the back of it( unseen by passers-by) and go to the restroom.

It was always a place for shade too on a hot day and it became a safety-spot when an unpredicted Rain, Snow, or Thunderstorm came through out of nowhere and my dad was miles away from it,… he ran as fast as he could to get to the tree. He knew that once there, he’d be sheltered by the onslaught of the weather storm.

It became a sad spot when a friend of the family, Fel Lord, drove her red sports car into the tree driving home late one night, fell asleep and she became paralyzed, and eventually died from complications.

You know it must be special when a tree gets a name — and that name is just The Tree.  

When we had CB radios, before cell phones,,, if we were in range,.. and if we wanted our family to know where we were.

We’d used it as a family landmark. If you ever said, “Hey, we’re going by The Tree,” everybody knew what you meant.

That Juniper Tree is more than a hundred years old.

I saw an old antique picture once of the old Baldwin Mine, just above the area The Tree was in,.. and there it was.

A Tree that lives that long, and endures storm after storm, heat, dust, and my dad using it as a restroom,… must have good roots to not only survive, but to Thrive.

The Tree is not a tourist destination.

There is no website or Facebook page for it.

I’m not sure if anyone has every mentioned it in a blog, nor have I ever written about it, until today. But yet it has significance. It has a story attached to it.

It represents relationship. My dad’s relationship to it. Our relationship to our Dad. To Fel Lord and her family.

It became a memory tree after my dad passed away a few years ago. I drove past it, with my wife next to me, the last time we were in Big Bear… my wife held my hand as we passed by it. She smiled a nice, kind, caring smile, knowing what that tree meant to me.

It meant a place of family history for me. I shared it with my children when they were young. I’m not sure if they remembered me talking about it as we drove by The Tree when they were little. I hope they do.  And now you can.

I believe we can find a lesson in there somewhere. 

In a version of Morgan Freeman’s voice I can hear him say; “You know, the reason these kinds of trees are so strong is, not only are they planted by the water, but they have just as much going on under the ground as they do above the ground,” he said. “If you wiped all of the dirt out of here, you’d basically see this.”  

He’d hold up one hand on top of the other, palms facing us and fingers spread wide.  He would want us to see how the tree’s roots had spread underground just as wide as the branches had spread above ground. 

A little later, Psalm 1 came to my mind, and I read it now. 

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,  nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.  He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither.  In all that he does, he prospers. — Psalm 1:1–3 

This portrays what happens when we dig our roots deep, spiritual roots.

I didn’t realize it at the time, but my life originated out of this simple idea for a devotional moment alongside The Tree.  It dawned on me that, like The Tree, growth as a believer requires two parts.  

We have to dig our roots deep.  And when we do, we naturally will reach out. When we grow roots, we dive into God’s Word and prayer and learn from other believers.  As we reach out, we show Jesus to people and tell them about Him.

A balanced believer is supposed to do both.  Still, it’s easy to pick one side or the other and get comfortable,  resigning ourselves to the thought that some people are “roots” people and some are “reach” people. A strong believer needs to have a balance of both roots that dig deep and sprawling branches that reach out.  

The personalities and interests of roots people bend toward the serious side.  Those who claim to be reach people lean towards the compassionate side.  We understand the importance of Bible study and theology, and we like to go deep.  We also understand the importance of soul-winning, caring, and simply listening. 

Roots people, too often, however, keep it all tucked under the surface.  When they get around people, it’s like “they’re in our way” until we can get to the next Bible study.  They have great discipline, but sometimes they’re useless to everyone around us. At too many other times, I’ve seen people who concentrate solely on reaching out.  They want to serve everybody and feed everybody and hang out with everybody and change everybody. 

It’s a simple concept. To thrive, we must:

• Dig deep into the roots of our relationship with Jesus. This helps us understand who God is and who we are in Him. We dig in to know God.
• Reach out to others. This helps us to show the world that we belong to Jesus and that Jesus is God. We reach out to make God known.

The Tree depicts a healthy believer who has both roots and reach. Reliability and Purpose. Reliable to know it’s there. Purpose to know it will be there for us. 

The empty promises of the world define success and contentment in terms of money, possessions, prestige, and power. The Bible’s definition of the word thrive means digging deep into a personal relationship with Jesus; and reaching out to others with His truth and love — to know God and to make Him known.

May these words from the song “Thrive” be the marching cadence for us all: 

Into your Word we’re digging deep To know the Father’s heart.

Into the world we’re reaching out To show them who you are.

Point to Remember: Balanced believers dig their roots deep and reach out to others. * * * 

Be The Tree