Ear Update: They haven't popped yet!
Trees. They have always held a quiet fascination for me. Many of them stand as a silent, yet majestic testimony to the Creator. Nowhere on earth have I felt this more than when we lived in Mississippi. It was there that I began my love affair with the gentle giant of trees, the Live Oak. They are majestic with a capital M. One can't help but be captivated by their presence and begin to ponder. They seem so big and so grand, and I've often found myself wondering what all they had been a witness to during their long lives on earth. Many of the Live Oaks that I gazed at were probably also admired by Native Americans as well as Civil War soldiers.
Trees. They have always held a quiet fascination for me. Many of them stand as a silent, yet majestic testimony to the Creator. Nowhere on earth have I felt this more than when we lived in Mississippi. It was there that I began my love affair with the gentle giant of trees, the Live Oak. They are majestic with a capital M. One can't help but be captivated by their presence and begin to ponder. They seem so big and so grand, and I've often found myself wondering what all they had been a witness to during their long lives on earth. Many of the Live Oaks that I gazed at were probably also admired by Native Americans as well as Civil War soldiers.
Trees after Katrina often reminded me of gnarled, arthritic hands, reaching to heaven for help.
Highway 90 - lined with the great Live Oaks.
Post Katrina
Many of the trees have been destroyed because of the deluge of salt water.
Death and destruction - the gifts of KatrinaI hadn't thought much about my beloved trees since moving here to Houston. Until, that is, I took my students on a field trip. And there, in front of a grand old homestead stood a mighty Live Oak. My camera could not capture its grandeur, but here it is:
Symbolically speaking, it is my heart's desire and goal to be like the mighty oak. I think it's beautiful the way the prophet Isaiah describes and captures what I'm having great difficulty trying to express. Isaiah chapter 61 has often brought such comfort to my heart; the prophet assures those that have been crushed by the blows of life. They may have grieved and mourned and despaired, and yet there is a future; there is a hope! And what will these people be called?
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
a planting of the LORD
for the display of His splendor
I can't help it...those words just thrill my heart. Or as my Southern friends would say, "Bless my heart! I just got chill bumps!"
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