So I'm coming out of my fav burger joint in Cleburne and look across the street and see this tree. It's a mesquite tree growing out of a rain gutter two stories up. I couldn't tell if the tree's roots went all the way down the gutter and through the sidewalk or if its roots are just in the top of the gutter. Either way I thought that was quite an accomplishment. Ideas of tenacity and "bloom where you're planted" themes rushed through my head, except it wasn't planted there. It was probably just dumb luck, a hard wind, an inconsiderate bird, and poor cleaning of gutters that made it possible for a mesquite tree to grow up there. Still, I kinda admire the little tree. It's a "Little Tree That Could" story I guess.
Life will not be stopped and people can overcome some incredibly harsh conditions. In looking at that tree I was reminded of a line from the original Jurassic Park movie when the geneticists who made the dinosaurs assured a visiting scientist that the creatures where engineered sterile and could not reproduce and overtake paradise. The scientist was skeptical; "Life finds a way." Yep.
Our world, this nation, our cities and your life have gone through some horrible days, some are recent, some are in the distant past. There will be more of them in days to come-just being honest. But life, when given the chance, finds a way--a way through, a way over, under, or around. The Bible says that Jesus is life, so let Life find your way. He is the way, the truth, and the life. He is the resurrection and the life. Paul said in Colossians 3:4, "When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you will also appear with him in glory." Life finds a way-- follow and embrace it.
Some days the Christian may appear as out of place in this world as a mesquite tree growing on a roof, but you are alive, a living marvel of faith, and your best days in Christ are still to come.
Keep living; hang in there; keep growing in Christ, who is our life!
Cos
*apologies to Betty Smith 1896-1972
