a study of trees

I remember many years ago a friend bemoaned the fact that in the winter trees are 'dead.'

Dead? I exclaimed, "Why, they are not dead just because it is winter and their leaves are long gone. They are very much alive, waiting for the next season to get dressed for that occasion."

I study trees in the middle of winter when they are bare and naked. It doesn’t matter to me whether they have their clothes on or not. They are exceptionally beautiful.

In the winter, the shapes of their branches are more apparent without leaves, without the shades of green in spring and summer, bright reds, oranges and yellows in the fall. The absence of leaves forces me to notice the design of tree branches. No branch is the same, so no design is the same. Look up…notice.

Tree bark. What do I see in the bark of a tree? Color. Albeit the muted hues of this time of year, there is still color…life even though it is still, moving at a microscopic level, compared to my zipping and zagging too fast, hurried life.

Be still. Trees are a study of being still in the moment. Be in the present.

This occasion of winter is a time of waiting, expecting without worry, being still, and being bare to allow God to transform us. All of us…trees and all.