The tree was quite large, about 60 ft from root to tip. It had obviously been a victim of this years' storms. We had a couple of windstorms that were not plant friendly; many gorgeous, senior trees had taken a tumble in the strong winds, and this fellow lying prostrate on the beach was one of them. I wasn't sure how he ended up there, but I wasn't clear why I was there either.
I had decided my family needed bonding time and picked out a suitable new hike. One of my "secret-mother-super-powers" is to take my family on adventures that have surprise endings. Like the time I took them for a walk around the lake when a storm was brewing. We were under the power line when it groaned and just down the street after it snapped. I told them we were going for "a jaunt" not knowing that a sprint to save our lives would be the highlight of the afternoon.
It's an uncanny gift. To recount the amount of times I've pulled them into inclement weather would just be boring. It is my ability to time excursions to the park with social justice demonstrations or emergency construction projects that is really clever.
My triumph today was to plan a hike that turned out to be no more than a minor excursion. Minor. Excessively so. I had expected the walk to take an hour one way, so when we strolled out of the forest a mere 9 minutes after walking in, I was a bit put out. We had however, ended up along accessible waterfront so it wasn't entirely devastating. (Not like the time I made my husband carry our oldest baby in a back pack a few miles downhill to the lake emerge from the woods under a willow tree on a minute parcel of land that afforded no view of the lake whatsoever. Save of course for the mud puddle we stood in.)
As we exited the forest and took in our surroundings someone snorted and said, "you are kidding!" After a few more minutes of utterly unhelpful smarty-pants comments, we altered our course and headed for the nearest ice cream station. It was a nice walk, seals appeared along the shore, breaking the surface like corks held too long on the bottom of the sound. We meandered and chatted our way down the trail. As we approached the path's termination we became aware of an abundance of no trespassing signs and barbed wire. About the time we realized we were surrounded by a perimeter fence, a very nice local with a great dane pointed out the exit route.
We acquired ice cream and made our way back through the barbed wire to the beach. It was there we caught sight of the tree, lying parallel to the water, with shoots bursting skyward running its entire length. Crunching over rock, we sat down and made ourselves comfortable leaning against it's rough bark.
The afternoon passed lazily. A trip to the water to test the temperature, a lucky crabs dream of meeting humans fulfilled and a lot of rock throwing. It was the good kind of rock throwing though, hitting logs and landmarks with a great degree of aplomb. We were all hurling stones and having a delightful time. Ironically, I had just had a conversation the previous day about the bad type of rock throwing; the kind where words are launched, feelings get hurt, and relationships are broken.
She was crying when she phoned. I cringed as she recounted the story, not because I was surprised but because I had expected it. My darling friend has taken to keeping company with a very unkind person. I expect it is a textbook case of insecurity, some people only feel good about themselves when they hurt others. I wondered how many times my young friend was going to get hurt before she got wise. We spent a great deal of time discussing what friendship was and what friendship was not.
Friends do not put you down when you are hurting. They do not meet your pain with an opportunity to score points. A true friend can speak life to dead spaces and usher in life again. I thought of the tree I was leaning against. The tree was dead, washed ashore and its life was over yet, here it was, throwing shoots skyward in an attempt to continue living. I sent her a picture of the tree.
"See this? This is what friends do, they keep trying even when things seem impossible. They speak life and make you feel better not worse. It's kind of symbolic but you get my point."
She texted back, "What are you doing at the beach? I thought you were on a hike?"
Scripture has a great deal to say about friendship, all worthy of our consideration.
One who is righteous is a guide to his neighbor, but the way of the wicked leads them astray. Proverbs 12:26
Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.” 1 Corinthians 15:33
Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. Colossians 3:12-14
I encourage you to spend some time reflecting upon the company you keep and the company you provide. Does the Lord have anything to say to you on the matter? Life is short my friend and time is limited. Invest wisely.
I'm praying for you this week,
xoxKaren
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