Oh my, oh my, oh my! Yesterday L.D. Carter was gracious and supportive of my must do in this lifetime experience. You know, one of those things that you know you will regret if you don’t seize the moment and just do it? Every year when arborist, Chuck Ranson, came to tend to the magnificent live oak tree that lives in the courtyard at Unity on Greenville, he would conclude his visit with these words: “Karen, you really need to see her from up there.” as he pointed upward to the highest limbs. I would agree and promise myself that one day I would do just that. Yesterday was that day!
Carefully and thoughtfully, the ladder was placed to be sure I was safe as I climbed. I’m not as young as I once was, when I would have fearlessly climbed her from the ground up. Once I was at the end of the ladder, I climbed out on a limb as far as I could safely go. Standing on that limb and looking across the breadth of this tree took my breath away! Her beauty and her grace as she spread out to the street is defies description. She looked like dancers in motions as her limbs curve and bend in every direction. They created a picture of pure, perfect elegance.
I shall never look at this spectacular gift of nature the same. Having seen her from above adds a new depth of respect for the life of this tree. She literally beacons us to come further out on her limbs to see the wonder of life on Lower Greenville from above. I shall always be grateful for the many days I sat beneath this majestic tree’s branches, shaded from the sun’s rays as I wrote a Sunday lesson. I shall long appreciate the gentle breeze blowing through her limbs and seeing them sway to and fro during a Midweek Pause message. I shall always savor the moments I spent resting in the limb of this stunning and so very much alive tree. If you’re wondering if I hugged her, well of course I did!
Thank you, LD, thank you tree, thank you universe for the many gracious gifts and wonders of this life.
Om, Ah, Om…
Many blessings and much love,
Rev. Karen