The forest that surrounded our house in Crosslake, Minnesota was predominately oak…red oak. The original trees, red and white pine, spruce and balsam, had been logged off and then burned off decades ago. The soil was very poor for oak…all sand. Not enough of the right nutrients and moisture for sustaining healthy trees.
Consequently, by the time a tree had struggled to a diameter of about 26-28 inches at the base, its core was already rotted to about 8-12 of those inches. The tree would appear to thrive. It would produce a full complement of healthy leaves and branches. Every other fall it would produce enough acorns to fill a small swimming pool. Even the trunk above 4-5 feet would be solid and healthy.
But as the decay at its heart progressed, this otherwise healthy tree would become more and more hollow until one day a wind would be caught by the many leaves in its many branches and, with a groan and a bang, the tree would break and fall. The abundance of leaves, branches and acorns would lie beside its broken trunk whose empty heart was now revealed. The only thing left was for me to drive out there in my pickup with my chainsaw and cut and split it into 18-inch pieces for my woodstove.
The core of an oak, or any tree, is called its “heartwood.” It is not the living, growing part of the tree. It is the oldest, and in a healthy tree, the densest part of the tree. It serves no purpose in the daily tasks of photosynthesis or fruit bearing.
Its sole purpose is to hold the living tree up in the wind. When it is solid and healthy, a wind can strip branches, leaves and acorns from the tree before the heartwood breaks. Branches, leaves and acorns can all be grown back and they will grow back … if the heartwood holds firm.
Faithfulness is the heartwood of our spirit. Without it, we may put out many branches, a full canopy of leaves and even produce abundant fruit in our lives. Heartwood has nothing to do with these. But when faced with a wind, sometimes not even a very mighty wind, the hollowness at the center of a living spirit will give way and all that has been living and worthwhile will lie beside a broken spirit that is hollow inside.
A tree cannot help where it is planted. It has no choice but to make do with the resources that are directly beneath it. But, unlike the oaks around my old house, we don’t have to make do with the resources that we have at hand. The Believer’s inner strength comes from the intimacy of his or her relationship with God. The Word of God is a portal into the presence of the living God. Worshipping with God’s people multiplies the links of love and faith that also strengthen our heartwood just as it honors God. Joining God in good works deepens our experience of God’s grace and love and creates a core of spiritual strength throughout our whole community.
Unlike a tree, our center is living. It can be repaired, healed, and strengthened. But we cannot neglect the care of our spirits without being weakened at our core. It is not from just hearing the Word of God that faith springs. It is from taking the little risks he calls us to take daily and looking expectantly for him to appear in our daily lives…what the Bible calls being a disciple…, that we grow strong and well grounded.
Pay attention to the care of your spirit. Keep your heartwood strong!
Each month a member of the Cook County Ministerium will offer Spiritual Reflections. This week our contributor is Pastor Dave Harvey, who has served as pastor of Grand Marais Evangelical Free Church since February of 2008.
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