| I was driving to my office today and noticed, as John | | | | tree? I think we would have to agree on a big fat no |
| Mayer was singing to me once again about | | | | here. The storms are just doing what they do. They |
| heartbreak...big surprise there, that every day the same | | | | are being storms. The tree can't stop them, and they |
| tree catches my eye. Now, I pass by a million trees | | | | happen to all trees. No other tree is exempt. No other |
| every day but this one is different. This tree is regal. | | | | tree bears a bigger brunt of the storms. It's just part of |
| This tree might even be considered majestic. It's huge | | | | being a tree. |
| and beautiful, and its trunk looks about as broad as the | | | | So what about my own storms? They come |
| farm tractor that is creeping along in front of me, | | | | regardless of where I live, who I love, my religious |
| keeping me from traveling at a pace that's even | | | | beliefs, my political affiliations, my professional ties, and |
| approaching the speed limit. | | | | my family relationships. It doesn't matter if I am a good |
| No, I don't live on a farm. We have Starbucks, | | | | person or a murderer, whether I am a Christian, Muslim, |
| Wal-Mart, a mall, a slew of chain restaurants, and even | | | | or Jew, or if I spend my life helping others or lying on |
| a number of cafés where I can sip some tea and | | | | my couch all day watching daytime TV. The storms |
| write these updates during my breaks from people | | | | are going to come. |
| watching. If you wanted to see a farm, however, I | | | | And we all endure them. We cannot stop the storms. |
| could show you one. Smack in the middle of this small | | | | The only thing we can do is choose how to react to |
| but growing Midwest town is a whisper of something | | | | them. And if we pay close attention to the tree we |
| left behind from every decade this place has seen for | | | | might learn that we don't even have to react at all. All |
| the last hundred and fifty years. Two towns over the | | | | we have to do is be flexible. The elements will rip at us, |
| Amish still attempt to navigate their horses and buggies | | | | push us around, and try to tear us up from our roots, |
| on the same streets with cars and delivery trucks, and | | | | but if we bend we will not break. It is only if the tree did |
| only a few minutes away is Notre Dame and all the | | | | not give enough, could not bend enough, that it would |
| youthfulness and excitement that accompanies a | | | | break in half. Only if it was rigid and unyielding would |
| college town. It's actually quite strange. | | | | the storm destroy it. And so it is with us. |
| I thought about the storms that tree has seen here | | | | This yielding to the storm allows the tree to remain at |
| during its lifetime. The Midwest can be very unforgiving | | | | peace with the world. No matter what comes its way, |
| when it comes to the weather. I imagined it enduring | | | | it stands tall and bends according to the ferocity of the |
| the wind, rain, snow, ice, hail, and extremes in heat and | | | | assault. The stronger the attack, the more it |
| cold this area encounters. I saw it in my mind being | | | | surrenders. |
| tossed around as high winds and pelting rain have tried | | | | The only power the storms in our lives have is the |
| to bend it and break it in two. Through it all, it is still | | | | power we allow them to have over us. |
| standing, still regal. | | | | There is nothing new under the sun, and every battle |
| This made me think about the storms in my own life | | | | we face has been fought by others before us. As a |
| and in the lives of the people around me. Everyone | | | | matter of fact, if I were able to put the problems of |
| seems to have them. Money problems, failing | | | | everyone I know into a hat and pick some new ones I |
| marriages, estranged relationships, troubled children, job | | | | would probably be hoping to get mine back out again. |
| stress, health challenges, death, loss, change, worry, | | | | So as we go about our day, let us remember that |
| fear, and the list could go on forever, and they all take | | | | everyone we pass on the street, and everyone we |
| their toll. These are the equivalent in our lives of the | | | | share the roads with, and everyone we interact with in |
| wind, rain, etc., that pummels the tree and tries to break | | | | even the slightest way, are all facing their own storms. |
| it in half. | | | | We are all alike in this way. Let us be conscious of this |
| I wondered what I could learn from that tree. What did | | | | fact and do our best to not add to the wind and rain |
| it have to teach me? | | | | they endure. And if we can, see if we can plant |
| Does the tree begin to question its life during the | | | | ourselves in their lives in such a way to shield them |
| storms? Is there something that the cosmos is trying | | | | just a little, give them a little rest, and say, "I too am |
| to teach it? Is it being punished for its actions or | | | | enduring the storms of life. I know what it's like. I will |
| thoughts? Is some force in the world picking on it or | | | | stand with you and we will be strong together". |
| testing it, trying to make it a stronger or more obedient | | | | |