Unaware that this day was any different, on a normal run to the drive-through at a local bank last winter, God awakened me.
Awaiting my turn, I gazed out my window and found myself mesmerized, lost in the wonder, the beauty of something so simple: a tree. My tree became such a source of inspiration, a glance into an interior life with God. Standing in the sun, its leaves gone, nothing adorning it, it had become silent in the winter solace.
Withdrawn from the distractions of the world, standing firm, now it gets its nourishment from within; it turns within for growth and strength. Had anyone noticed its interior solitude and that it will emerge strong and new again in the spring?
I came to understand, so it is with our interior lives. We go within to grow with Christ, without anyone knowing, without anyone seeing, and we emerge as a new creation in Christ. It is our lives of prayer and union with God that nourish us from within. We remove ourselves from the distractions of the world, so that we will emerge as disciples of Christ in the world.
I have watched my tree as new life emerged, the growth as it reaches upward. It became green and moves with the gentle breezes that shade us, providing peace and shelter. In the fall, once again its leaves will turn and begin to be lost as it withdraws from the world. Has anyone noticed its beauty and strength?
Each and every trip to the bank has now become a time of noticing the changes and beauty of the awareness of God. My tree has become a great and continual reminder of a life of solitude, stillness, and prayer, the importance of being with God, being within.