For All of us Hoping...

Let me start of my entry and my Blog by sharing with you a story I read on another site- The tale of the three trees.

Once upon a mountaintop, three little trees stood and dreamed of what they wanted to become when they grew up. The first little tree looked up at the stars twinkling like diamonds above him. "I want to be covered with gold and filled with precious stones. I will be the most beautiful treasure chest in the world!" The second little tree looked out at the small stream trickling by on its way to the ocean. "I want to be a strong sailing ship," he said. "I want to travel mighty waters and carry powerful kings. I will be the strongest ship in the world!" The third little tree looked down into the valley below where busy men and busy women worked in a busy town. "I don't want to leave this mountaintop at all," she said. "I want to grow so tall that when people stop to look at me they will raise their eyes to heaven and think of God. I will be the tallest tree in the world!"

Years passed. The rains came, the sun shone, and the little trees grew tall. One day three woodcutters climbed the mountain. The first woodcutter looked at the first tree and said, "This tree is beautiful. It is perfect for me." With a swoop of his shining axe, the first tree fell. "Now I shall be made into a beautiful chest," thought the first tree. "I shall hold wonderful treasure." The second woodcutter looked at the second tree and said, "This tree is strong. It is perfect for me." With a swoop of his shining axe, the second tree fell. "Now I shall sail mighty waters," thought the second tree. "I shall be a strong ship fit for kings!" The third tree felt her heart sink when the last woodcutter looked her way. She stood straight and tall and pointed bravely to heaven. But the woodcutter never even looked up. "Any kind of tree will do for me," he muttered. With a swoop of his shining axe, the third tree fell.

The first tree rejoiced when the woodcutter brought him to a carpenter's shop, but the busy carpenter was not thinking about treasure chests. Instead his work-worn hands fashioned the tree into a feed box for animals. The once beautiful tree was not covered with gold or filled with treasure. He was coated with sawdust and filled with hay for hungry farm animals. The second tree smiled when the woodcutter took him to a shipyard, but no mighty sailing ships were being made that day. Instead, the once-strong tree was hammered and sawed into a simple fishing boat. Too small and too weak to sail an ocean or even a river, he was taken to a little lake. Every day he brought in loads of dead, smelly fish. The third tree was confused when the woodcutter cut her into strong beams and left her in the lumberyard. "What happened?" the once tall tree wondered. "All I ever wanted to do was stay on the mountaintop and point to God."

Many, many days and nights passed. The three trees nearly forgot their dreams. But one night golden starlight poured over the first tree as a young woman placed her newborn baby in the feed box. "I wish I could make a cradle for him," her husband whispered. The mother squeezed his hand and smiled as the starlight shone on the smooth and sturdy wood. "This manger is beautiful," she said. And suddenly the first tree knew he was holding the greatest treasure in the world.

One evening a tired traveller and his friends crowded into the old fishing boat. The traveller fell asleep as the second tree quietly sailed out into the lake. Soon a thundering and thrashing storm arose. The little tree shuttered. He knew he did not have the strength to carry so many passengers safely through the wind and rain. The tired man awakened. He stood up, stretched out his hand, and said, "Peace." The storm stopped as quickly as it had begun. And suddenly the second tree knew he was carrying the King of heaven and earth.

Finally, someone came and got the third tree. It was carried through
the streets as the people mocked the man who was carrying it.

When they came to a stop, the man was nailed to the tree and raised in
the air to die at the top of a hill. When Sunday came, the tree came
to realize that it was strong enough to stand at the top of the hill and
be as close to God as was possible, because Jesus had been crucified on it.

Retold by Angela Etwell Hunt, Chariot Victor Publishing, copyright 1989.

All things in this world are up for grabs - except of course the wicked bachelor's dignity... in whatever way you want to interpret it. But mere grabbing does not guarantee us of anything - not even something less than a speck of space dust. The world is indeed full of wondrously wrought circumstances and possibilities. Believer or not, no one can deny that indeed something, whatever force, entity or being made the world as such.

Unfortunately, even man's most valiant efforts fail. His journey to a higher level of perfection has proved to be loathsome. Man has failed - miserably...

But what has kept him from being reduced to a mere decoration in the world's history? His intellect of course! He has demonstrated this in a multitude of fields, lotsa times.

However, man is fundamentally flawed. (at least in my opinion) His aspiration to do better and better has undeniably led to invaluable advances in fields he deems important. Don't get me wrong dude. I'm not saying that we should go back to Chaucer's time and accept that our fate as it is.

What I want to say is that All of us will never be able achieve everything that we ever aspire for. Each of the three trees had their own aspirations. NONE became reality but ALL THREE were blessed with even better stuff. :)

I welcome all of you guys to my renaissance into the blog world with this thought in mind. We may never get evrything... but we shall do anything to accomplish something worth noting! :D

You have one life, live it WELL :D