Jeris E. Bragan wrote about an
old violin-maker who chose the wood for his instruments from the north side of
the trees because this was the side that faced the fiercest windstorms. When the
storms raged the trees groaned under the lashings but this is what gave them
their strength. As the violin-maker said, "They are simply learning to be
violins."
I once had a home on the top of the hills overlooking
the beautiful city of Adelaide in South Australia. Most Adelaidians didn't like
to live there because of the fierce winds that often blew. But the view of the
city and the ocean beyond was magnificent. However, when I was landscaping our
property, the nursery man told me it was better to get very small trees and if I
stake them at all to be sure to stake them very loosely. Allow them to bend and
go with the wind because this makes them develop a strong root system. When the
trees grew and the winds raged, we lost a few branches but we never had a tree
blow over.
Like the trees of the forest,
may I find nourishment
in rain as well as sunshine,
bend with the winds of misfortune
without breaking;
give of myself to others
to provide shade from the blistering heat,
grow old gracefully and not
become rigid or unbending;
and above all
may I keep reaching ever upwards
towards heaven and to God.
by Dick Innes, Daily Encounter www.actsweb.org/detoday. Used by permission.
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