Be the Tree

The stream of fresh water, found somewhere in Norway, flows ever so gently, causing only mild movement, barely rippling, as it flows past the tree on its journey.

The beautiful Norwegian sunlight shining down from above has a mirroring effect on the water’s surface. The tree itself, whether by nature or man’s intention, has homesteaded in a perfect location for optimal growth and nourishment. Roots from its early days now deeply imbedded in the soil draw in life in the form of nutrients from the good earth below and liquid refreshment from the stream.

My thoughts today are of the reflected image as much as of the tree itself. When gazing at the water’s surface the trunk and branch are clearly visible as a reflection of the original— a mirror image until the movement reveals that this isn’t the tree after all but a nearly perfect replication. The longer I gaze the more I observe how similar the image is to the original. Almost exact. However, the movement of the life-giving river causes ripples in the image, bringing me back to the reality that what my eye sees is indeed not the genuine article.

Reflections of an original are like that. Reflections have ripples. Reflections don’t possess the deep roots of the authentic. Reflections are not capable of true growth, only displaying what the eye can observe on a surface level but not in reality where growth and life and substance all mean something.

In human life we have, most of us, been at the stage where we were reflecting someone else’s greatness, growth, and accomplishment and that’s the way of human development. But we can’t set up shop there and expect to make true impact and ourselves experience honest growth and, most of all, experience “true” life.

The reflecting water, even with the assistance of the all powerful sun cannot turn itself into a real tree. We on the other hand must choose to be the tree and not merely a reflection of it.

Something to think about.