Minutes of Meetings with God and with Myself
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Dead, but Still Standing  ...

Dead ... but still standing. That is a good description of the tree just outside my library window. I am really surprised that poor thing has remained erect through the last ice and snow storm we had. I have half expected to wake up some night to the crash of the tree toppling to the ground ... or into the house. My wife, Susie, and I have been holding off cutting the thing down as long as it has any life at all in it ... but right now, the tree looks totally dead. Insects have undermined the tree trunk, the bark is peeled or peeling off, and most of the limbs are cracked or broken. All the other trees in the yard are showing at least some buds ... but that tree hasn't any. It is my guess that Susie and I will soon have one or more discussions about what to do with that tree. And it is also my guess that the discus-sions will run something like the one described in Luke 13:6-9: Then he [Jesus} told this parable: "A man had a fig tree, planted in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it, but did not find any. So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, 'For three years now I've been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven't found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?' "'Sir,' the man replied, 'leave it alone for one more year, and I'll dig around it and fertilize it. If it bears fruit next year, fine! If not, then cut it down.'" I have little doubt that I will end up sounding like the man who came looking for figs on the tree (I, however, will be looking for signs of life) and Susie will wind-up sounding like "the keeper of the vineyard". I'll be saying: "Cut it down!" and she'll be saying: "Give the tree one more last chance! ... and if it doesn't show signs of life, then cut it down!" And Susie will get her way about the tree ... she usually does about things (although I bet she wouldn't admit it). I will be glad that Susie will get her way (and you can bet that I wouldn't admit it) because I don't really want to cut the tree down. Yes, I have some concern about where the tree will fall if it's allowed to come down by itself. But its been a good tree and I will hate to see it gone. The dead tree isn't good for much ... but the stump is good for a whole lot less. A dead tree standing seems so much better ... .has so much more character ...than a stark, useless tree stump. I have seen owls, Cedar Wax-wings and many other birds in that old tree. I can say with reasonable certainty that when the tree is reduced to a stump, there will not be too many birds staying around it. And I detest having to mow around tree stumps ... that's almost as bad as having to prune fruit trees. Anyway, after all it's been through ... the fate of the tree outside my library window will depend upon whether or not it has any life left in it. It has to be more than a roost for the local birds ... the tree has to show some promise of life, no matter how meager ... it has to have at least a few new leaves on it in order to be left standing. When Jesus walked the earth, he looked for signs of life ... for some promise ... not only in trees but also in the people he came upon. He looked for leaves ... he looked for fruit ... he looked for something no matter how meager. The Gospel of Mark describes the morning after Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. He saw a fig tree in leaf. And, because leaves and fruit generally emerge on such trees at about the same time, Jesus went to the tree expecting to be able to get something to eat. There were no figs on the tree ... the tree did not live up to its promise. Jesus spoke harshly to the tree ... he told it: "May no one eat ever eat fruit from you again." Condemned to be fruitless, the tree withered and died by the next day. The tree was dead ... but still standing. Jesus went into Jerusalem. Like the fig tree, Jerusalem showed promise ... at first the people of the city welcomed Jesus with Palms and "Hosannas". But like the fig tree, Jerusalem did not live up to its promise ... before the Feast of the Passover was ended, the people who had wel-comed Jesus cried out for his crucifixion. Jesus died, Jesus rose from the grave, and we believe that Jesus will come again. Many things will be different when Jesus comes again. However, I think one thing will remain the same. At his return, Jesus will still be looking for signs of life ... no matter how meager ... perhaps a few new leaves ... perhaps some fruit ... any little thing that shows that we're not dead, but still standing. I have to go get my binoculars, I think I see a bud on that tree ...