I have been keeping a personal journal for most of the past ten years. Rarely do I get time to go back and look at what I wrote but I have a long term retirement goal of typing down the volumes for my children someday. The Lord knows they will never be able to read my writing if I don’t try to do it for them. Today I had a few moments before our court date here in Latvia to read a few of my old entries. This one was interesting so I thought I would share. At the very least it is one less to have to translate.
The Economy of Trees. August 15, 2013. Over the weekend, I went into our woods to find a small maple tree. I wanted to transplant it to the front of our home where we had to take two old ones down. In transplanting the tree I learned a few things about root balls, leaves, and the wood that is produced in between. Roots are like a company’s engineers and administration – their work occurs largely out of public eye and in trying to squeeze the greatest efficiencies from the soil in which they live. The transportation of water – not too much or too little – is key and new roots grow through the soil in search of it. The roots also serve to keep the tree in place even during the most severe of storms. And while the roots are very important, without the leaves which are very much in the public eye – the salesforce- there would be very little food or energy available to convert from the sun and feed the roots to do their job. Salesman have to make their hay while the sun shines – when it doesn’t they die off just as leaves do for the long winter. The product of a healthy respect between the leaves and roots is a strong trunk and wood which -in the most glorious of circumstances – can then live forever as the floors of castles. The Economy of Trees is very much like our own. In the Apostle Paul’s words, the eyes should not be jealous of the mouth or the bones, for each part serves a purpose it has been given. What wood is your economy producing today?