Like Tree Roots

  Periodically, I participate in the awesome, Word by Word, Self-Discovery series creating by Ashley @ Nourishing the Soul.   The goal of this series is to challenge ourselves to reflect on ideas that we may not often consider in the hustle and bustle of our daily lives.  This is a post that started as what I thought would be my word by word post on pain, but it took on a whole life of its own and deserved publishing….   So, I will be adding my PAIN post next week but for now, enjoy this piece that grew on its own.

Like Tree Roots

As I sat along the river, feet planted solidly to hold my stance so as to not slip or fall, trying to enjoy the peaceful silence and the calm of the water.  I feel the gentle breeze softly touching my skin.  A single bird flies overhead and I can actually hear the wind within its wings.  A rare moment of serenity that I often crave, yet alludes me most of the time.

My eyes follow the bird to its perch, high above its ancient post atop the single tree.  The deep longing for freedom..freedom of flight…freedom to soar. The freedom my self-imposed prison that started with the pain endured in my earlier years.  The freedom to escape things that were not my fault, yet I carry as if they are.

A tear gently rolls down my cheek as my thoughts swirl, just like the leaves caught in the tornado like wind.  A soft burst of sunlight twinkling through the limbs harnesses my attention, my focus toward the base of the tree. The tangled, snarled highway of roots, intertwine within themselves.

Exposed.

Oh the fears and rage that bubbles within my heart from that exposure of all those endless miles of roots.

Roots are suppose to be kept buried underground, unseen but when the roots are exposed their purpose lie barren for all to see.  Roots sustain our life.  The are the core of our existence, whether buried or out in the open for all to see.

When life is filled with pain, physical or emotional or both, our thoughts often are nourished and fed by the pain.  Our outer presence flourishes, like the branches, the bright bouquet of leaves nestled next to a babbling brook.  All presenting a beauty that we long for.

But what lies silently, inside, if let unexposed, can become a gnarly group of dead weight.  It can be overwhelming as we tippy toe through the entanglement, trying not to trip and fall.

Looking at the exposed roots, one by one, slowly brings to life the beauty within.  The miles and miles and miles of a snake-like timeline becomes a picture perfect moment highlighted by the twinkle of sunlight intermixed with the shadows.  It creates a unique, individual and awesomely beautiful picture.  The spotlight moves slowly to re-create the buried darkness of those roots into a beautiful master piece.   A beauty only found when the roots are exposed yet still sustain the life to produce that peaceful place to just be in the moment.

Reflection has beauty that can only be discovered when we look beyond the dark roots and see a different purpose.

Our roots have a beauty all their own once we can see beyond that darkness.