Deep Shade

The heat and humidity started its invasion early this morning.  And I knew that if I was to get in a run today, well, it better be done before the blast of furnace-type heat settled in.  Already by 7.30, the pavement was hot, the sun beat down, and any shade at all was a welcome respite.  The humidity made me feel like I was breathing through a hot wet wool blanket.  And occasionally a cool breeze would come from an unexpected place like the very grace of God.

As I passed along sunbaked streets lined with trees and houses, I ran under the shade of one massive old oak tree, its branches spreading beyond the boundaries of the yard, covering the street, forming an awning of green.  And I realized that tree was planted as a seedling  60 or 70 years ago (yes, even before I was born) by a homeowner I will never know, someone who has most likely departed this life and location.  But they planted, and they nurtured, watered, mulched and trimmed this tree, leaving it behind when they moved, when most likely, the tree was still so small that it could only cast a weak shadow.  The person who planted could only imagine that in time to come -- someday in the future that they would never see-- this little tree would grow tall and magnificent and provide strangers a glorious canopy of shade like heaven itself.

Faithfulness is defined by the shade of that majestic tree.  Planting, nurturing, watering, mulching, trimming for that which I will probably never see.  May those who come behind me find me faithful, leaving behind what points them to God Himself.  That little seed of kindness, those acts of grace, reaching out in love, absorbing His Word and letting it become rooted in my life – I can never know how God will grow it for His name’s sake.

The kingdom of heaven

is like a grain of mustard seed

which a man took and sowed in his field;

it is the smallest of all seeds,

but when it has grown

it is the greatest of shrubs

          and becomes a tree,

so that the birds of the air come

   and make nests in its branches.

                         Matthew 13.31-32