There Is a Tree

From Chicken Soup for the Soul: All in the Family

By Kimberly Anne Reedy

If you feel called to share a message, it's because there are people in the world who are waiting to hear it.
~Michael Port

On the plane headed to Detroit for my grandparents' sixtieth wedding anniversary, I gazed out the small cabin window. My mind wandered as I reviewed the past year.

I had moved to Phuket, Thailand, where I had become a scuba dive master and taught children at a local school. I didn't have a good answer as to why I left home. I just needed to escape from my life as it was.

After living in Thailand for seven months, I got a call from my brother.

"I just got back from Iraq again. A lot has changed in my life, and I have so much to tell you!"

"Well, when can you come out here to visit me?"

"I don't get out of the Marine Corps until next March. When are you coming home?"

That was all I needed to hear. I decided right then and there to return home to see my brother and family as soon as I could wrap things up in Phuket.

First, my mom flew out to see what life had been like for me in Thailand. We spent seven weeks exploring Southeast Asia and parts of Europe before returning home. We then drove through the southwestern United States and along the West Coast to visit my brother and two sisters.

It struck me that I had traveled to ten countries and, now on my way to Michigan, ten states within the course of a year.

I pulled out my travel journal, weathered by months of tropical sea air and endless carry-on chafing. And I began to write....

Months later, my family gathered in Arizona for our first Christmas together in three years. My brother was home from Iraq, and I was back from years of international adventure. My mom wanted it to be the best Christmas ever.

We had all decided to have a "Come as You Will Be" party to celebrate our dreams as a family and our commitment to getting along and growing together. When it was my turn to talk about my dreams, I revealed my intention to be a writer. I even had my first work with me, a short parable I had recently written. Although I wanted to read it to them, an overwhelming sense of vulnerability emerged, and I changed the subject. Then, suddenly, I was interrupted with, "Let's hear it!"

Somewhat surprised that everyone seemed genuinely interested, I read what I had written on the plane two months before.

There Is a Tree

There is a tree whose roots sink deeply into the very core of the earth. Its branches soar up through the sky and out into the universe. Its trunk is so wide, no one really knows where one side begins or the other one ends. On that tree, there are so many leaves that, from far away, they seem to blend together as one.

But, up close, each leaf looks completely separate. Because of this, most leaves overlook the fact that their stems are attached to small branches, which give way to all the other branches and ultimately connect to every other leaf on the tree. Most leaves forget this connection and feel separate and alone.

When it rains, the leaves think they must accumulate more drops on them than the others, or they might die of thirst. So they compete with each other for the limited raindrops, forgetting that they all share the same roots, which absorb the water when it moistens the earth.

When the sun comes out, the leaves are again worried, this time because they may not get enough light. When they see other leaves getting more sunlight than themselves, they feel resentful and envious, forgetting that when the sun shines on any one of them, the warmth and energy strengthens them all.

Some leaves don't remember that they are part of a tree until they fall to the ground. But from the ground looking up, they can plainly see that all the leaves are growing from the same tree. Once they remember, they transform into nourishing soil and continue on as a different part of the tree.

Some leaves, on the other hand, remember before they fall from the tree. When it rains, these leaves relax and trust, knowing that the water will moisten the soil below, and the roots of the great tree will absorb it, providing plenty of water for each leaf.

When the sun comes out, the leaves bask in its warmth. When they see other leaves getting more sunlight, they are delighted, knowing that they all benefit from each other's success.

But the most amazing thing is that when one leaf remembers, sometimes other leaves notice. And then, slowly, they begin to remember, too. And before you know it, on a tree whose roots sink deeply into the core of the earth with branches that reach all the way out into the universe, there are leaves that, even up close, don't seem so separate.

I looked around. Everyone was quiet.

Today, if you were to say me, "Thailand?! What made you want to move there?" I would have an answer. Only after all the people I met, after all the places I saw, after all the experiences I had, and only after being with my family, as if for the first time, can I say in earnest, "I just needed to find my way home."

http://www.beliefnet.com/Inspiration/Chicken-Soup-For-The-Soul/2009/11/There-Is-a-Tree.aspx?source=NEWSLETTER&nlsource=49&ppc=&utm_campaign=DIBSoup&utm_source=NL&utm_medium=newsletter