May 13th Story by Bill Lynch

The Tree

As I watched Steve gather the materials and tools, I wondered just what he was up to. He pulled together some rebar that was tossed aside as scrap from a construction site. Tom the contractor in charge was gracious enough to grant a few requests from Steve for some material that had been left over. It was about seven pieces of rebar only about three to four feet in length, of various sizes. Then Tom gave Steve about ten feet or so of barbed wire.

So Steve gathered the material together along with some weld rods and his wleder and a set of torches to braze and cut with. Steve carefully lay each piece of rebar side by side and began to heat one piece at a time and strategically bend and mold each one to the particular curve he was trying to achieve. He welded the pieces together at the base and every couple of inches up for about one foot. Then he cut smaller pieces of rebar from the tops and began to weld those pieces to the main trunk. Steve was forming some kind of tree I could now tell. He then carefully cut and formed the barbed wire into several leaves and brazed them onto the branches of the tree. Steve had created a wonderful piece of art from left over steel.

I asked Steve what he was thinking when he formulated the idea to make this tree. What he told me was just as fascinating as the tree itself. Steve told me that he liked the use of what was left over. He especially was looking for something that was already formed from earthly materials. Something that already had the hands of a creator involved. Not only and human creator who would combine the materials to make the steel but also a divine Creator that had formed the materials in the first place.

Steve now felt he had something in hand that was from above in God the Creator and also from this earthly creator of the steel itself. Steve was now going to create something himself from these very materials. In some way, Steve said that God the Creator was in him and he was in the Creator.

Steve was a man of deep faith. Steve was a baptized child of God and believed that Jesus came into this world, lived, died, resurrected and ascended to the Father. Steve believed in the resurrection and the return of Christ. Steve loved his faith and the love that God had given him to give to all those God chose to send his way and those Steve met in his own life.

So as Steve continued to tell me the story of the tree, he believed that this tree of his that came together and displayed the Creator and the created. It displayed the life of the creation and the danger of sin in the leaves. You see, some of the leaves were barbed and other of the leaves Steve had removed the barbs and were smooth. Steve told me that the world is like this. We live in a world of barbed leaves that can hurt and cut. Leaves that are kind of like the thorned crown that Jesus wore at his crucifixion. Then there were leaves that brought love and life. Leaves not to be feared but to be cherished. From these leaves Steve had hung some ornaments in the form of various fruit. So the tree exhibited leaves with fruit and stark bare leaves with barbs.

As Steve continued his story he told me that this is what it's like to be a Child of God. We are all on a tree of life, some of us believe, have faith and bear fruit. Some of us don't believe and bear barbs. God is in all of us from creation, but some of us, with fruit are not born of this world alone but are born of God also. The fruit that these leaves bear is of the heavenly Father and comes from above.

We learn from this tree that God is in all of us, but for those who believe and live in faith are also born from above. Jesus came from above to this earth and returned. Jesus is our God who gives us life. As we live our lives on this world we witness to those leaves with barbs that if they only believe and have faith, one day their barbs will drop and they will bear the heavenly fruit from above.

Steve's three foot tree was so much more that rebar, weld, braze and some barbed wire. Steves tree was a tree of life. Thanks be to God!

Prayer
Jesus, as you are in God and God is in you, may I be in you and you in me. May I bear that heavenly fruit that you have chosen for me to bear that all the world may see the salvation you have to give... today... tomorrow... and forever. --- Amen