The Legend of Lone Pine

Sit back and let me tell you a story…


One lone Pine tree found itself rooted in the middle of a vast desert.  As a sapling, he knew he’d been dropped into this desolate place; imagining a great bird carrying him while going somewhere far more interesting.   Lone Pine had no real family, and only knew nourishment from the torrential rains of the Spring and the scorching sun of the Summer.  He stood back a ways from a little traveled country highway.  The gusts blown through his needles from the rare vehicle passing by, seemed like a friendly breeze.  He prayed a flat tire would bring him a few moments of company now and then.
 

Lone Pine struggled with loneliness and feelings of isolation, wondering if at his very core he was unable to offer much to the world around him.  He did know there was shelter and shade under his branches, but that only mattered if there was someone that wanted or needed what he had to offer.  He imagined he had been created for greater things, but didn’t know what.  The isolated tree stood a bit taller when the occasional bird lit in his branches for a rest.  Once in a while he enjoyed visits from a lizard that lived under a nearby rock; both so thirsty in such a dry land.  The only more frequent companions were the passing tumbleweeds, a very nomadic group.  They mostly drifted, not stopping long enough to put down roots of their own.  Days and years passed, with the only constant companion being the wind.  The storms blowing through the desert pushed against Lone Pine, making him bend.  Wind twisted his branches, even breaking some off through the more violent gusts.  His bark checked and knots formed where new growth tried unsuccessfully to branch.  With time, his trunk became gnarled and misshapen, but the outside did not define what was at his core.  His heart remained strong and resilient, and the dream of belonging refused to fade.

One day a car pulled off the highway not far from Lone Pine.  He listened as the crunch of rocks under feet grew closer and closer.  He watched as someone walked all around his area of the desert, measuring and eventually even sizing the tree up.  It wasn’t long before trucks were interrupting the desert silence, and hammers echoed off the distant rock formations.  Lone Pine felt his roots grow deeper and his needles dance a bit, as he watched a home built right next to him.  Soon a family moved in, and children ran and rode bikes through his desert, and it didn’t seem desolate anymore.  Eventually the children brought boards, nails and rope and Lone Pine held his branches high as the kids built a fort.  He took seriously this new purpose and loved when people played among his branches.  His prayers answered and dreams fulfilled, he lived on for years providing inspiration for those that wanted to climb to their own potential.

“We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed.  We are perplexed, but not driven to despair.  We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God.  We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed.  Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies.”  2 Corinthians 4:8-10

Thank you God for giving me your strength, and for resiliency!  Help me keep bending in the wind, allowing you to transform me into who you want me to be.   Grow me in patience, faith, and love, Lord and keep my roots deeply planted.  Amen