First Baptist Church of Herndon

The Life of a Dead Tree

Linda Soller | May 15, 2023

When we moved to our house a beautiful Japanese Maple tree lived right next to our deck. It provided lovely cooling shade, branches for bird houses, and beautiful fall color.  It was not huge, but the shape was so perfect, it was full of life. Time passed and our beautiful tree began to show signs of stress and age. It lost a limb here and there, so we trimmed and waited. This time last year when other trees were turning green, we could see that our lovely maple was dead.  So now our maple stands near our deck, bare and ragged.

Okay, so it doesn’t provide shade or color. Maybe it isn’t the most gorgeous tree on the street, but there is life in our dead tree. Small colorful houses still hang from its branches. The woodpeckers seem to like it even better than our house siding! Birds fill it waiting impatiently for me to put the feeder out in the morning, and during the day it’s a staging place as they take turns grabbing some seed. Squirrels use it to escape when I chase them off the bird feeder! The lovely foliage has given way to a striking sculpted form. Technically it’s dead, certainly past its prime, but the life of a dead tree is fascinating.

We humans sometimes think of ourselves and/or others as having reached the end. Unable to do all we did in the past we start to sit. We begin to observe life instead of living it. It’s true we can’t do all we did as young people. But that does not mean we should stop trying to live each day to the fullest. The maple tree continues to serve a variety of purposes.  Even though they are different from those of its heyday, they are no less important. It inspires me to seek new ways to serve, new things I can enjoy, and interests to keep me challenged. So, each day when I look out into the yard, I’m thankful for the life of a dead tree.

Be the love in the world  : )   Linda