A willow tree was planted downhill from a drainage pipe. Water trickled from its mouth and from the source—an endless fountain, perpetually supplied by fresh water.
This unlikely pairing had been, oddly enough, intentional. The landscape architect knew that, without frequent watering, this tree would never survive. Therefore, in his creativity and love for his trees, he made sure she would never lack the moisture it needed to thrive.
For a time, the willow longed to be elsewhere, wished she were not so wholly dependent. She felt tied down, suffocated, anxious, and bitter. There had to be more to life than this span of land where she was bound. But a single season of refusing fountain’s water proved more than the willow could bear and less fulfilling than she imagined.
Life without the fountain was not a life at all. It actually meant death, albeit a slow one. Drinking deeply again, the willow became content in what she had been given, where she had been placed. Her leaves grew back, her roots spread a hundred feet out, and she experienced the joy of offering shade and gently swaying branches to weary wanderers.
The water always flowed, and the willow tree always thrived. Year after year, she stood, dancing in the invisible wind, providing shelter from rain and sun to passersby, and displaying her imputed beauty. This willow endured droughts because she was provided for, always. And she endured storms because she had been strengthened by her ever-spreading roots. Blessed by a present, ample, and everlasting source of life, the willow lived, grew, and gave.
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All of nature preaches the Gospel and reveals the heart of God—of this much I am sure. Peek through with me. Peer behind the torn and thinning veil of human love, of pottery, of creeping ivy, of great tapestries, of all of history, of computers, of birds, of broken clocks, water, and trees. Beyond what you can see, but also woven into it, discover His character and yours.
Draw near, pay attention. If you are willing, if you have ears to hear and eyes to see, you can be another willow too.
JustAnotherWillow 