INTRODUCTION

When we spend too much time focused on our worries, problems, or other negatives – we risk losing our perspective.

Meditation can be a powerful help, but reaching a calm focused state is not easy. To regain perspective and turn away from chaotic thoughts, we need a strategy.

THE PROBLEM

Hold up a quarter so that you see its full face, at arms length. Close one eye – then slowly bring the quarter towards your face until it completely covers your field of view.

Chances are, at that distance, you lose the fine details of the engraving – and any vision beyond the quarter is blocked

Whatever else the environment held — is still there. You may not have fully noticed it all to begin with, but now it’s completely unavailable – impossible to see, use, or to enjoy.

To regain vision, you must move the quarter away from your eye. An arm’s length of distance offers perspective.

The same thing can happen to us (in our mind’s eye) as we become saturated with news, and views of the murder and mayhem, politics and programming in our world.

SOLUTION

We need prayer and thinking space. We can also use strategies found in the designs of nature. Go outside. Sit (or, if it’s cold, park) under a tree. Look around. Let your mind ponder ‘Natural Metaphors’ …

Consider the trees. As you visually appreciate the beauty, take note of details. Pick one, and notice what type of tree you are looking at. Notice its height, and girth. Check the color, shape, and the presence or absence of leaves.

Notice the movement of branches. Really see the design lines of the trunk. Is there a pattern to the root growth?

Next consider the mechanics of that tree. What qualities does it have that serve its own survival, and offer benefit to its surrounding environment and to the human admirer (you) within that setting?

You might know that a tree’s roots can run as deeply down into the earth – as it’s branches rise up to its crowning height.

Roots are capable of seeking sources of moisture and nourishment from the soil. They also support and anchor the tree during winds and storms.

Also, notice how far both the root system and branches spread out from the center. It’s quite a circle of influence isn’t it? Consider your own roots and circle of influence.

Have you noticed that air seems fresher, and breathing easier, under a tree?

Part of the tree’s natural cycle includes the exchange of carbon dioxide and oxygen. Plants and trees use very little of the oxygen they convert. The rest goes into the air – which we breathe. We exhale carbon dioxide, which the plants and trees need for their conversion.

Thank God for His creation as you appreciate ‘natural metaphors’. We are also His creation.

Think of the tree’s flexibility in movement – bending with the wind, rather than breaking in resistance. Can’t we do the same?

Also, consider buds unfurling into green leaves – each an original design. No two are exactly alike. Young leaves are strongly anchored to each branch, unable to survive unless attached – and they are necessary to the life of the tree. One can’t thrive without the other.

We too depend on attachment. In John 15:5, our Lord reminds us;

“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.”

Next: Consider the changes in leaf structure and function. As the seasons pass, green goes to gold. Leaves lose their hold.

Retiring from the active work of photosynthesis – and provision of shade during summer’s heat –leaves enrich the soil as they fall, dancing to the earth.

Gifts of beauty, movement, and life can be found in each stage. May that be equally true of us.

CONCLUSION

The time you spend considering the beauty of the Creator – as well as His creation and pondering how you may be able to apply similar qualities and exercises, to thoughts and emotions – will pay dividends in peace of mind, joy, and perspective.

In Psalms 1: 3 we find more encouragement and promise for those who walk with God:

“He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water – that brings forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper.”

Trees offer just one example for ‘Natural Metaphor’. All of nature offers more. Try it to gain satisfaction and balance in a world that seem increasingly short of both.

Blessings, Love, and Laughter,

Margaret

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