We do have that you know!

There's a tree I pass on my walk through the neighborhood. It's about twenty years old now. When it was young the planter carefully pushed an iron rod into the ground beside it. He lovingly tied a soft cloth around the two for the union of strength, to help the young sapling stand strong against the wind and storms.

The planter of the tree died, and the ownership of the home changed hands. When the new people moved in no one thought to consider the young tree and its rod. The tree was left to do what trees do. It secured its roots deep into the ground and widened its trunk. By and by the tree continued to grow and no longer needed the support of the rod; the soft cloth had long deteriorated and blown away, but still, no one thought to remove the old rod.

Eventually, the tree's trunk reached out far enough to touch the rod. The next year the tree began wrapping its bark around the bottom of the rod, and each year thereafter it expanded and grew until only the top six inches of the iron rod could be seen.

For the past three years I've walked by that tree stopping to look at its vigorous expanse, growing strong and healthy, providing shade and shelter. And then I look at the rod and note its slow disappearance.

This year I passed the tree and noticed two inches of the rod remains. It's possible that next year no one will see it all. Perhaps no one will know that it's even there, but I'll know.

When I think of that tree, I marvel at its symbolism to life, to human nature. The tree proved to be resilient and adapted. Unlike the tree we can address a situation make decisions, and move on. But, we'll not be able to solve all problems to our liking. Not everything can be removed. Not everything can be taken away, but where possible we can determine to be resilient, and to flourish in spite of encumbrances.