Note: this originally appeared on my Equus nom Veritas site; I am reposting it here. Enjoy!Yesterday, I
discussed the inspiration for "
The Tree." What lesson did I learn from all of this? There are a few. First of all, the literal lesson that sometimes plants just need a little more sunshine. They can't always get by with just water and fertilizer if they live in the shade.
With this literal lesson come a few more lessons which I think are more applicable to us. I can view the tree as just another plant, or I can see it as a gift--a gift from God Who is the Source of all light and life. When looked at in this way, an important lesson can be learned. We all have our gifts from God; but when we forget that He is the Source of those gifts, they tend to wither, just as the tree withered when removed from the sunlight.
We may not even notice it at first, and in fact we may not notice it at all. There are, for example, many smart people who reject the source of their intelligence; they don't necessarily become stupid with this rejection, not at least to the eyes of the world. However, this rejection becomes increasingly of something which they do not understand; St Augustine's statement that he believes in order to understand is all too often borne out by experience. Thus do we find many straw men carefully crafted for the purpose of being torn down and burned.
This point was illustrated quite ably by professor Rob Koon, who once told me that he knows of no stronger argument for the existence of a God than Bertrand Russell's essays about how there is not a God. Russell, for those who do not know, was a brilliant mathematician who also happened to be a prominent (and militant) atheist during the first half of the 20th century. It was precisely this brilliance which was Russell's undoing; for his essays against God might have been written by any idiot with a typewriter. The arguments lacked depth, and might be reduced to "I've been hurt, so daddy doesn't love me; since daddy loves me by nature of his being my father, daddy must not actually be my father. Therefore, I have no father."
Returning to the lessons from the tree, I can think of another lesson which is easier to miss. When the tree was blocked from the sunlight, it was also blocked from the view of others. It existed for my own personal pleasure, and for nobody else's. Too often, we view God's gifts to us as solely our own; as if they were given for my happiness, my betterment, my satisfaction alone. While often grace is intended to help us, it's also given to help others. If I am giving the ability to speak well, it's not merely so that I can impress my friends. It is so that I can proclaim the Gospel to all people. If I am given intellect and a philosophical mind, it is not so that I can sit in a cell and enjoy reflecting on the mysteries of the faith: I am meant to share those reflections for the betterment of the community (the Church). We act as if we are not our brothers' keepers (Genesis 4:9).
God does surely grant us graces and gifts for our own good. But He also often intends us to use these gifts to help others. Contrast these two prayers: "Grant, oh Lord, that I might sit at your right hand," (Mark 10:37) as opposed to "Lord, make me an instrument of your peace" (St Francis of Assisi). Both are surely true desires--but humility allows to to pray the second, and pray that it will be enough. The first prayer, you will recall, is answered by the command that "Whosoever will be greater, shall be your minister" (Mark 10:43), and elsewhere "He that is the greatest among you shall be your servant" (Matthew 23:11). All that is given to us is for our use, but it is most fully realized when used to help others; when we help ourselves and hide our gifts from others, we soon find that the gifts loose their luster.
Too often, we live as if it's "every man for himself," both in worlds affairs and in spiritual ones. It is easy to develop sinful habits when living this way, and not only because we guard our own spiritual gifts, burying them like the servant given one talent (Matthew 25:18). We also tend to become jealous of the spiritual gifts of others--which is one of the six ways in which we can sin (blaspheme) against the Holy Spirit (Mark 3:29). That way, too, leads to death.
Tags: Musings
