The Lesson of the Pines

                               The Lesson of the Pines

Like most residents of Island Park, Idaho, we have satellite service so that we can stay plugged into the happenings of the day. This week I watched as the Mayor of New York has begun enforcing a ban on large servings of soda pop. A legislator from another state has proposed a bill requiring anyone that wishes to purchase ammunition take and pass a mandatory class in anger management first.  A 7 year old boy was suspended from school for the horrible offense of shaping his breakfast pastry into the rough silhouette of a pistol. The White House just announced that the spring break tours for the kids will be cancelled because of the sequestration.

After an hour of immersion into the arguments between the proponents and opponents of these various proposals, I felt a welling of anger building within me. How could anyone think that this type of micromanagement be helpful? I left the flat screen and retreated to the porch.

The snow was falling from the night sky and slowly encasing the pine trees in the yard. As the snow accumulated on the boughs, they slowly gave way until the snow was shed. The boughs returned to their original position with no acknowledgement of the weight they had been under.  The process then began again, snow accumulating until it was shed.  

Here was a lesson that I could use in my life. While acknowledging accumulating pressure, we can bear life’s burdens and bend until we shed them. Knowing that there will be many more snowfalls coming, anger and fear will not help carry us through. Maintaining calm during times of turmoil and uncertainty will leave us emotionally healthy and able weather life’s storms.