Hello,
Paul Bunyan, Big Joe Mufferaw, and now……me.
Some
years from now when the annuls of western Pennsylvania are written there will
be stories of the mighty lumberjacks that cleared the way for
civilization….Paul Bunyan, Big Joe Mufferaw……and me.
When we
built our house a couple of years ago, we situated it at the western edge
of the tree stand on the top of
our hill. During the summer the
Maples trees, the Cherry trees, the Locus trees, and the Sasyphras (sp?) trees shelter
our house from the heat of the sun and the gust of the wind. In the fall they wrap it with a
patchwork quilt of autumn colors.
In the winter they act as a break for the horizontally falling snow, and
in the spring they bud up with life anew announced by the chirping of the birds
who rebuild their nests in them.
The
trees that surround our house are wonderful in many ways, but when one of them
is hollowed out by ants and begins to slump toward our garage…..well, then it
isn’t so wonderful. Such was the
case with a large maple tree that stood near our garage. Over the years, the ants had dined on
its core, turning the bottom several feet of it into a gigantic straw. “This tree’s gotta come down,” said our
friend Ralph who knows a thing or two about trees, “or it’s gonna come down….on
your roof.” So, promising to bring
the cables over soon, he left the tree above our garage in hopes that we would
not wake up some morning with a nature made sky light in our garage.
Wouldn’t
you know, a couple of days later the gusty winds of autumn hit our hill,
pushing the air through the trees at 60 miles per hour. Thankfully the tree stood stubborn
against the wind….but not wanting to count too heavily on its hollowed out
core, Ralph and his brother came up to our house on Saturday, ready to take the
tree down. The plan was to attach
cables to it in order to have it land away from our garage and in a narrow
opening between some other trees.
Ralph attached the first set of cables to the tree that we stretched to
another tree in the direction that we hoped it would fall, and I (lumberjack
that I am) climbed the ladder to attach the second cable to the tree to keep it
from plopping down on my garage.
When everything was attached and taught, Ralph took his chain saw in
hand and cut a notch in the base of the tree. His brother and I began clicking the hand winches, causing
the tree to lean and crackle.
“Click…click….click.”
and the tree slowly began to lean away from vertical and away from my
garage. “Keep on clicking,” Ralph
instructed, “I’m going to ‘tickle’ the tree.” A bunch of clicks and tickles later, and although the tree
was leaning, it wasn’t falling, being held up by branches from neighboring
trees. Putting his chainsaw down
and walking toward his brother, Ralph leapt up like a gymnast reaching for the
high bar and took hold of the cable, “Sometimes if you grab hold of the cable,
the tree will come down.” His
brother of 60 years plus, joined him, and as they swang on the cable like
monkeys on a vine, and with a
final crack the tree came crashing down.
As it did, Ralph and his brother immediately morphed into gazelles and
ran for their lives, landing the tree within inches of where they had hoped.
Mission
accomplished. Go ahead, wind, and
blow. That tree has lost its power
to chill me with fear as it did when it loomed over my garage. Thanks to three apt lumberjacks…Ralph,
his brother….and me (!) I can lay my head down with ease at night, and wake up
without looming fear.
Got any looming trees
hovering over you? Every Sunday
when we begin worship a trinity of divine lumberjacks stands ready to bring
them down….not with chainsaws….but with forgiveness. “In the mercy of Almighty God, Jesus Christ has been given
to die for you, and for his sake, God forgives you all of your sins (looming
trees). As a called and ordained
minister of the Church of Christ, and by his authority, I therefore declare to
you the entire forgiveness of all of your sins, in the name of the Father and
of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
AMEN”
Thanks to these
triune lumberjacks who wield the power of forgiveness….The Father, The Son and
The Holy Spirit….you can lay your head down with ease at night, and wake up
without looming fear. Come on
Sunday and marvel at the grace with which the divine triune lumberjack can
bring peace, hope and joy to your life.
Have a
great week….TIMBER!
God’s
grace and peace, (ggap)
Pastor
Jerry Nuernberger
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