This tree has also had a lot of tender loving care. Mike, the tree man, has lovingly pruned it, both before the hurricanes of 2004 and has tenderly done so ever since. He has removed the diseased or decayed parts before they could do more damage, and kept it carefully balanced so it would not fall.
This is no mere tree. It is TWO trees. Two trees with roots intertwined like siamese twins. If you sever anything, you are likely to lose both. And Roger was not about to lose two trees. So often we were advised that these trees could fall either way, or both ways. At the same time. But Roger would never take down a tree for 'just in case.' He is probably having a panic attack right now. (No, wait, no panic attacks in Heaven!) "Those Oak Trees are going to outlive me," he would always say. I was thinking that would be true in about 20 years, around 2034, but now now.
But the deed must be done. These trees are in real danger of falling. And I'm told that they weigh tons.
Part of me is kind of glad that he is not having to take part in it. A very small part of me. I'd rather we were making this tough decision together. Tough decisions make you stronger, right?
So today, as I took photos of our wonderful tree, in its various stages of dismemberment, I thought about Roger a lot. I thought about how many times we looked at this tree in light of Psalms 1.
The King James Version is so poetic, so full of symbolic though. (Roger's translation kind of makes you think about it in today's terms)
"Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful..... (Roger's modern translation would be something like...blessed is the person who doesn't hang out with those without moral guidance - doesn't listen to their schemes and follow their ways, or those who defy the goodness and righteousness of God, or those who mock or slander or 'scorn' the things relating to Jehovah God)
"But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on His Law he meditates day and night " (Roger's translation - that the person's thought processes revolve around the things of God, day and night, his world view is about Jehovah God more than about anything else)
"And he shall be like a TREE planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season. His leaf also shall not wither, and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper" (Roger's translation was more about the tree being like people, the water being like the Living Water: Christ, and the fruit being those we touch through Christ. Prosperity was spiritual in nature as well...because temporal things really do not last, but spiritual things do. I even read somewhere that it is like being blessed with grace in our earthly existence, and glory eternally...and thus, a happy person....very cool! )
Of course it goes on to explain the final end for both the righteous (which does not mean perfect, but rather those who follow God and give their best efforts as living in such a way as to honor Him) and for the ungodly (which actually should be clear enough, since I did not make up that term)
He always thought that in today's world, people act like they don't really know the difference and that whatever they feel is ok, or God's ways, are ok. "Yeah, right" he would say, "I guess we will see in the end." Weigh it out....stand in judgement or in the congregation of the righteous.....each person has to decide that one on his own.
But back to the tree....it gave us shade, it gave us breezes, it sheltered us during a gentle rain, it was a thing of beauty...children played under it, it supported our swings and held our weight under it's great branches. It was a living thing, yet it was not a soul. It served Roger well, I'll say that. He was not a 'tree hugger', but he liked the things that God placed in his little corner of the world.
So, this is not the big tree in our front yard. I even I told him that I was not going to replace oaks with oaks, because I got the pollen and leaf end of the deal. But today I changed my mind. Mike, our wonderful tree man, wants to plant a tree for Roger and he wants to plant a LIVE OAK. I will say yes to that.
A LIVE OAK has roots that are deep and strong. They grow slowly, so slowly that I will never see the fullness of the tree in my lifetime, but our grandchildren might. A LIVE OAK will withstand the storms of life. (As evidenced during the 2004 Hurricane Series) This will be a great example for those following in Roger's footsteps.
We did not plant the Water (Laurel) Oak. It was significantly huge when we got here, so it is possibly 50-75 years old already....why indeed, maybe it is 71! But we will plant an oak that is stronger, more enduring, and can last a hundred years, easily.
And if the Lord tarries, and I meet Roger before He comes....we can watch from Heaven as our children's children's children swing and play and enjoy life from beneath an oak tree whose life in our back yard will begin in the same year as Roger began eternity.
Roger's Lesson: Trees mean life - the Cross was once a tree - it points to eternal life. It lasts.
He would say that I did well on this decision. I just know it.
And I also know that my tears will water the roots of that new LIVE OAK tree.
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