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Fallen Large Old Tree
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Thoughts on nature and the Christian faith - 4/18/22
"But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them,
because he knew all people and needed no one to bear
witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man."
- Jn. 2:24-25
There is a place about a half hour's walk through the woodlands behind our home with several rock formations and caves that I like to explore. On the day I took this image I found a fallen large old tree that I had formerly seen standing strong, but now was lying on the ground. As I approached it, I noticed it was hollow throughout its entire length. Its demise was due to a rot from within. A wide angle lens enabled me to crawl into its base and view the entire tunnel throughout the length of the tree. By looking at this massive tree from afar, one would never guess its weakness inside.
The outside of the tree looked healthy, but the inside was dead. This is true not only of trees, but of humans as well. Often the outside we allow others to see looks fine, but only we know the decay within. At least that is what we think.
When Jesus walked among us, he knew what was in us. He sometimes spoke of us keeping the outside of the cup clean while the inside was polluted, or of us being like white-washed tombs that look good from without, but inside contain dead men's bones. Our parents told us you can't judge a book by its cover, and they were right. We were not born morally good, we were born with a sinful inner nature.
Our natural inclination is to please ourselves, not our Creator. But the good news of the gospel is that we can start anew, we can be born again as a new creation. The rotten core can be replaced by the living Spirit of God. Christians are a work in progress.
We are not what we should be, but we are also not what we were. We are no longer hollow. The decay that was within us is being conquered by life and a growing inner transformation. And, unlike this tree, we will never die. What is now working within us won't allow it. - John
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