"Branch" | Reflection by Linda Love (Vestry Class of 2024)

What branch am I today?  I can think of many.

A palm branch that welcomes and offers shade from the scorching sun.

The evergreen branch with soft needles that provide shelter from a cold and snowy winter.  Or those with prickly needles that offer protection from predators.

A branch that holds a nest of eggs, sheltering them until their time for new life.

The dormant branch, at rest, waiting for rebirth.  Long and slender, can I reach out to others?  Can I sting and whip the flesh if used in anger?

The dying branch, brittle and bare, weak and unstable.  Will I break and fall to destroy others?  Will I decay in the wilderness and give fertile soil to new growth?

A branch of thorns that can pierce the flesh.  Do I have berries to lure the hungry?  Are they nourishing or poisonous?

Am I big and strong?  Can I become lumber to build a home?  Or a cross to bear?  Or support a crucifixion?

A budding branch ready for new life.  Transformation? 

The olive branch of peace.

What vine supports me?  What soil nourishes me?  Am I thirsty?

All branches have beauty and purpose in Gods eyes. 

How we use them is up to us.

Words in the Wilderness - Walk through the season of Lent with Trinity, one word at a time. Every day (except on Sundays) we will post a photo and a brief refection written by someone in our Trinity community. https://www.trinitynewhaven.org/words-in-the-wilderness