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    As a child hiking or working in the yard with my dad, sometimes when we paused to rest, I would hear his rich baritone voice burst forth with some poem he had memorized as a child. Often, it was Joyce Kilmer’s famous Trees poem that described the inability of art created by humans to replicate the beauty and majesty achieved by God in nature.

    This poem influenced me, for I have taken many pictures of trees. However, I view them as illustrations of life lessons. The resilience of a tree in the face of storms and its patience in its slow growth are lessons I’ve learned from trees. I’m planning to share some others in my following blogs. I hope you’ll give me some feedback as I try this.

    Monty and I had the privilege of visiting the Angel Oak tree in South Carolina in 2012. This tree’s sheer size and grandeur left us and the other visitors in awe, speaking in hushed tones. The only sounds were the gentle rustling of the leaves and the melodious chirping of birds.

    This particular tree is an enormous Southern Live Oak (Quercus virginiana) located in Angel Oak Park on Johns Island near Charleston, South Carolina. It is considered one of the oldest living Live Oak trees east of the Mississippi River. Standing tall and proud, it is a majestic testament to the enduring beauty of nature. Despite the many storms and hurricanes it has weathered, it remains. It is estimated to be around 400-500 years old—although some claim it is even older.

    This massive tree stands 65 feet tall and has a trunk with a circumference of 25.5 feet. The size and reach of its extended branches shade an area of 17,000 square feet—a little under four basketball courts. Its most extended branch reaches 187 feet from tip to end—that’s the length of two basketball courts end to end.

There are supports under some of the massive branches or wires attached to the tree to help keep the giant limbs from breaking. We were told that Live Oak branches can grow underground and then come back up and grow outward. Some Angel Oak branches do this, making the tree look almost otherworldly.

After seeing the Angel Oak tree, we returned home to Lynchburg and our neighborhood, which has other types of large oak trees. Several of the trees in our neighborhood were over 100 feet tall. On one of my walks, I picked up an acorn. This acorn, a symbol of potential, became a source of reflection for me and my imagination. Imagine my response if I thought this particular little acorn was sad and troubled.

“Why are you so sad?” I asked.

“Because I want to be like that beautiful vine that has crept across the open space to a fence it climbed. Now it’s covers the fence with fragrant purple blossoms.” The little acorn began to weep because it had no beautiful blossoms and felt plain.

“But, you’re merely a seed and haven’t even been planted yet! Your life and all its possibilities are still ahead of you.”

We agreed that I would plant the acorn. I did, and I watered it. Later, it sprouted and those first green leaves appeared. I returned to find the young sprout stretched out on the ground like a vine.

I asked in alarm, “Little friend, what are you doing?” 

“I’m going to be a vine like the one that blooms on the fence,” it replied.

“Oh no, little friend. You won’t have purple blooms like the vine on the fence because you’re an oak tree, although small now. Within the small acorn where you began was a library of information in your DNA telling each of your cells how to grow and what to do as you grow. All that information is already stored inside your cells to make you into a lovely upright oak tree that will shelter many animals and insects who enjoy the shade and protection you give them. Later, as you mature, you’ll even provide food for wildlife by the acorns you furnish. However, you’ll be important for many reasons besides the safety and protection you furnish others. Why would you want to be a purple-blooming vine that is here today and gone tomorrow?”

    Of course, it’s laughable to imagine a young oak tree trying to crawl along the ground and look like a vine—but isn’t that similar to what some people do when they are unhappy with what they are and try to copy someone else? God put all that individual-specific DNA information inside us before birth—just like in the little acorn. That individual information—enough to fill over 100 volumes of encyclopedias for the human DNA—directs every cell regarding what it is to do at different stages of life. While it is true that the young oak tree could be bent to the ground and have branches chopped off to try to “look more vine-like.” Over the years, all the information in the oak tree’s cells will eventually win out. Claiming its self-image is a vine doesn’t change the DNA information hardwired into every cell from the beginning.

    If you know someone struggling with self-image, point out how an acorn grows into an oak tree every time, no matter what you do to the young growing tree. Encourage that person to relax, knowing God has built a treasure chest of information into each cell. However, there may be an awkward gangling stage between the young sprout and the more mature tree. 

    Whenever I think back on our visit to the Angel Oak in South Carolina, I marvel at the fact that the little acorn that originated that tree had no idea of the impact it would have for hundreds of years. I’m grateful it didn’t waste time imitating a vine when it was young but accepted who/what it was designed to be. This tree showed me that God has hidden whatever we need within us. I saw fantastic resilience in the Angel Oak. However, many of this same type of tree were used to build the USS Constitution. It was claimed that the hardwood of Quercus virginiana was why the ship received the nickname “Old Ironsides” after the War of 1812 because the cannonballs bounced off its sides. Its resilience came from within. I want that type of resilience from enemy attacks, don’t you? 

Lord….you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made….My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place….Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. Psalm 139:1, 13-16  (NIV)

This is what the Lord says—“your Redeemer, who formed you in the womb: I am the Lord, the Maker of all things”  Isaiah 44:24(a)  (NIV)