Splint Trees

We all need a splint now and then…

I was out for run in the forest the other day and, as usual, I noticed something new and amazing which seems to happen every single time I run that path. I am not sure why it is, but the things I notice seem to carry a message just for me of something that is specific to where I am in life. Some would say the universe is talking to me, others call it random, still others say that I am looking for meaning within meaningless things….. I think God has a way of talking that is not some booming voice that thunders from the sky but rather a simple moment that causes me to stop and take notice. These, for me, are moments of impact. Moments that speak to my soul and awaken something that is otherwise lost in fog…. moments that lift me and foster a deeper curiosity… moments that speak where no voice could reach…

During my run that day I was listening to a single song on repeat for over an hour and I did so as an attempt to settle the restlessness that was causing a storm to brew in my brain (which I will dedicate another post to…). The sun poured through the trees filling the trail with a light that was golden, touching the earth covered in fallen leaves, and creating a glow that was breathtaking. I had to stop and stretch out my arms in effort to absorb the fullness of the beauty that surrounded me. The moment I was in seemed to slow right down…. as if time stood still long enough for me to truly see what was in front of me. There it was, right before me, a tree with a bent trunk that was stuck to another tree. It caught my full attention even before I could see the fullness of what was actually before me…. and as I stood there, simply taking in the picture, I could suddenly see how it came to look as it now does. I imagined that in the early years of this bent tree, there must have been a great storm that caused it to fall. The fallen tree was caught by other trees on its way down and as a result its tap root was not torn. Years must have passed while this fallen tree remained alive only because it was splinted by another tree. It must have taken years for the bent tree to get strong enough to reach for the light, but reach it did. That tree, with its bent trunk, stands like a tower reaching high into the forest canopy beside another tree that is as straight as an arrow. As I continued on my way I began to see splinted trees throughout the forest. I stopped at each one to take their picture when I began to realize that this was simply the way of trees. They did not decide if they had the time nor turn a blind eye because of their own struggle to rise up. What a beautiful thing it is to have your eyes opened to the lessons that nature holds if only we take a moment to listen to the wisdom of the wild.

I stood in those moments, captivated by what my eyes could see, feeling the story of that tree in my soul. I am like those trees. I have been splinted and I have been a splint. Storms rage about us that cause us to stumble and fall. But we can and will rise again and again and again if we are splinted. We all have the ability and the choice to rise up in authentic compassion and splint the broken around us. And if we gather in community as trees in a forest, then we will not be asked to splint the masses (which is an impossible burden on one person), rather, we will only splint those in arms reach.

I have had my branches caught on my way to the ground and have been splinted, just like the trees, in some very dark hours along my life’s journey. I have had many different splint trees over the history of my life, and some whose names I cannot remember but whose faces remind me that they were there. I find myself looking back across time, which is such an important thing to do, and I am grateful for those with the courage and backbone needed for two. May this experience in the forest hold my heart steady when I feel isolation fall like a shadow along my path.

To all those who have the courage to stand as a splint for another… may you also know who your splint trees are…

May we learn the value of authenticity and true community so when we are called upon to be a splint we will have the courage and strength to do so….