A Single Tree
- Confessions of a Sports Parent: The Scoreboard
- A Single Tree
- Worb, Switzerland in Fall
- The Volto Santo
- Tuscany, Italy
- The Prayer of Music
- Cologne Cathedral
- Pope Francis, Family, and Joy
- Exaltation of the Cross
- The Crumbs of Holiness
- Brienzer Rothorn
- Paris
- Prayer
- School, Dependence, and Paradox
- Pride
- Reflecting Light
- Loving Plan
- The Emmental
- Paris, Death, and Uncertainty
- Mt. Pilatus
- The Corner of Church and Gay
- Good Parenting
- To Change or Not To Change
- One Year Later
- Blausee, Switzerland
- Time is Love
- Bern, Switzerland
- Mürren, Switzerland
- Happy Thursday
- Die Hausmann (The Houseman)
- The Call of a Father
- Kandersteg, Switzerland
- Hope and Home
- Human, A Christmas Carol
- The Mountains and the Divine
- Christmas Market
- A Stare
- Penetrating Light
- Venice, Italy
- The Passion and the WC
- The Mountain
- Resurrection
- Market Day in Bern, Switzerland
- Happy Easter
- Good Friday
- Maundy Thursday
- Holy Week Reflection
- The Great Adventure
- A Man and His Crocs
- “Say You, Say Me”
- Kids, a Ball, and Nature
- Thun, Switzerland
- Invitation
- Sports and Passion
- Sunrise-Worb, Switzerland
- Seeing the Beautiful
- Our First Month
- Summer at Seven
- I Believe
- Radiant Presence
- Family
- U.S.A. vs. Germany
- Our Swiss Weekend
- The Paradox of the Road
- The Adventure Continues…
- Happy Father’s Day?
- Celebrating Earth Day
- Interlaken, Switzerland
- My Search for Communion
- The Universal Language of Sports
- An Experienced Faith
- Worb, Switzerland
- Lake Lugano, Switzerland
- To Bless the Space Between
- Language of Love
- The Bridge
- Confessions of a Sports Parent: The Parent Zone
- A Fire of Hope
- Eyes Without a Face
- Modern-Day School Day
- 43
- A Moment in Time
- A Hidden Truth
- Now More Than Ever, We Need the Wisdom of Sports
- A Plea for Truth
- “Shining Like The Sun”
- Gift of Silence
- The Greatest Illusion
- A Stomping Joy
- Listening to Time
- A Beautiful Closure
- Perfectly Average
- Baseball, Friendship, and Bathroom Prophecy
- Moments in Time: Worb, Switzerland
- Moments in Time: Helena, MT
- Mystery and Mirrors
- Present
- Confessions of a Sports Parent: Sports Wounds
- Confessions of a Sports Parent: Sports Balance
- 45 and the Mid-Life Brisk Walk
- A Scandalous Christmas
- Fire
- Moments in Time: London (The Tube)
- Some Random Thoughts at 44
- Hard To Be Human
- Two Choices
- Coming Out of Hibernation
- The Whispers of Nature
- Facebook, Beauty, and Good Friday
- Moments in Time: Dingle, Ireland
- Let’s Dance
- Moments in Time: Glen Coe, Scotland (Highlands)
- Age of Wisdom
- Happy New Year…Cheers to Cranberry Juice and Coffee
- Stockhorn
- The Story of Paris
- Solothurn, Switzerland
- Tissot Peak Walk, Glacier 3000
- Man vs. Nature
- The Swiss Alps from Another Time
- Not Just Another Day
- The Image
- Buildings
- Domodossola, Italy
- The Gray
- Feeling the Falls
- Love Is
- Opposites
- Sunrise Over Lake Maggiore, Italy
- Weather, Writing, and Truth
- A “Religious” Walk Home
- A Quick Day Trip to Luzern, Switzerland
- Year Two
- The Castle on the Hill
- Cold as Stone (3 Years Later)
- Change
- Yes, I Am In Your Business
- “Uniquely Me”
- The Human Balance
- Beyond Croatia’s Beauty
- Back to Reality
- A Friend to Man
- Merry Christmas
- Finding Freedom
- High School Sports Hall of Fame
- Bonnie Scotland
- Turning the Big 4-0
- Nice, France
- Wrestling with Time
- Rounding Second Base
- A New Hang Out
- Welcome to a Journey…
- Confessions of a Sports Parent: The Parent Zone
- A Single Tree
- Worb, Switzerland in Fall
- The Volto Santo
- Tuscany, Italy
- The Prayer of Music
- Cologne Cathedral
- Pope Francis, Family, and Joy
- Exaltation of the Cross
- The Crumbs of Holiness
- Brienzer Rothorn
- Paris
- Prayer
- School, Dependence, and Paradox
- Pride
- Reflecting Light
- Loving Plan
- The Emmental
- Paris, Death, and Uncertainty
- Mt. Pilatus
- The Corner of Church and Gay
- Good Parenting
- To Change or Not To Change
- One Year Later
- Blausee, Switzerland
- Time is Love
- Bern, Switzerland
- Mürren, Switzerland
- Happy Thursday
- Die Hausmann (The Houseman)
- The Call of a Father
- Kandersteg, Switzerland
- Hope and Home
- Human, A Christmas Carol
- The Mountains and the Divine
- Christmas Market
- A Stare
- Penetrating Light
- Venice, Italy
- The Passion and the WC
- The Mountain
- Resurrection
- Market Day in Bern, Switzerland
- Happy Easter
- Good Friday
- Maundy Thursday
- Holy Week Reflection
- The Great Adventure
- A Man and His Crocs
- “Say You, Say Me”
- Kids, a Ball, and Nature
- Thun, Switzerland
- Invitation
- Sports and Passion
- Sunrise-Worb, Switzerland
- Seeing the Beautiful
- Our First Month
- Summer at Seven
- I Believe
- Radiant Presence
- Family
- U.S.A. vs. Germany
- Our Swiss Weekend
- The Paradox of the Road
- The Adventure Continues…
- Happy Father’s Day?
- Celebrating Earth Day
- Interlaken, Switzerland
- My Search for Communion
- The Universal Language of Sports
- An Experienced Faith
- Worb, Switzerland
- Lake Lugano, Switzerland
- To Bless the Space Between
- Language of Love
- The Bridge
- Confessions of a Sports Parent: Sports Wounds
- A Plea for Truth
- Modern-Day School Day
- 43
- A Moment in Time
- A Hidden Truth
- Now More Than Ever, We Need the Wisdom of Sports
- A Fire of Hope
- Gift of Silence
- Moments in Time: Worb, Switzerland
- The Greatest Illusion
- A Stomping Joy
- Listening to Time
- A Beautiful Closure
- Perfectly Average
- Baseball, Friendship, and Bathroom Prophecy
- Age of Wisdom
- Eyes Without a Face
- “Shining Like The Sun”
- Happy New Year…Cheers to Cranberry Juice and Coffee
- Some Random Thoughts at 44
- Confessions of a Sports Parent: Sports Balance
- 45 and the Mid-Life Brisk Walk
- A Scandalous Christmas
- Fire
- Moments in Time: London (The Tube)
- Present
- Two Choices
- Moments in Time: Helena, MT
- Coming Out of Hibernation
- The Whispers of Nature
- Facebook, Beauty, and Good Friday
- Moments in Time: Dingle, Ireland
- Let’s Dance
- Moments in Time: Glen Coe, Scotland (Highlands)
- Hard To Be Human
- Mystery and Mirrors
- The Castle on the Hill
- Stockhorn
- The Story of Paris
- Solothurn, Switzerland
- Tissot Peak Walk, Glacier 3000
- Man vs. Nature
- The Swiss Alps from Another Time
- Not Just Another Day
- The Image
- Buildings
- Domodossola, Italy
- The Gray
- Feeling the Falls
- Love Is
- Opposites
- Sunrise Over Lake Maggiore, Italy
- Weather, Writing, and Truth
- A “Religious” Walk Home
- A Quick Day Trip to Luzern, Switzerland
- Year Two
- Change
- Cold as Stone (3 Years Later)
- Yes, I Am In Your Business
- “Uniquely Me”
- The Human Balance
- Beyond Croatia’s Beauty
- Back to Reality
- A Friend to Man
- Merry Christmas
- Finding Freedom
- High School Sports Hall of Fame
- Bonnie Scotland
- Turning the Big 4-0
- Nice, France
- Wrestling with Time
- Rounding Second Base
- A New Hang Out
- Welcome to a Journey…
(One of the things that my wife and I both love are the “single trees” that shower the landscapes all over Switzerland. Here are a few in our village of Worb. This has made me think, beyond their beauty, what can a single tree teach us about our spirituality and relationship with God)
A Single Tree
Today I stand in silence,
And it prompts me to be still
To be still
And hold onto my words
To be still
And resist the need to act
To be still
And reside within my name
Rooted in Your creation
I lose my stature
I lose my fullness
I lose my looks
Thank You
Rooted in Your creation
I gain my stature
I gain my fullness
I gain my looks
Thank You
Yet I remain silent
I remain still
For you are present
You are God
Today I stand in silence,
And it prompts me to be still
“A tree gives glory to God by being a tree. For in being what God means it to be it is obeying [God]. It “consents,” so to speak, to [God’s] creative love. It is expressing an idea which is in God and which is not distinct from the essence of God, and therefore a tree imitates God by being a tree”
― Thomas Merton, New Seeds of Contemplation
There is much to learn from watching a tree. How often we don’t notice them. They aren’t screaming. They aren’t competing for our attention. They are living in an existence of just being.
Although the beauty of their changing colors can grab us, this is a result of the natural law of creation and not something that they produced on their own. They succumb willingly to the flow of the Creator.
Oh, to be secure enough just to be. To allow our presence to be enough. To allow the natural law of creation to take over our changing bodies and minds in peace and not try to change it or prolong a season of life. To be one with ourselves, others, and God so that we may be still.
To be still
And hold onto my words
To be still
And resist the need to act
To be still
And reside within my name
“Silence is the cross on which we must crucify our ego.”
-St. Seraphim of Sarov
Words
Silence is a sign of great freedom. A freedom to choose whether a word becomes an outward sound or returns back and dissipates within the soul. To resist the temptation to speak can be an act of cowardice or a sign of humility. Or, better yet, it can be an act of suffering. To attack the ego in such a way that keeps us from being heard, being seen, being looked at, being noticed, is to experience beautiful anguish. The purifying fire of virtue can lead us to a peaceful existence.
Actions
To do. To fall into the trap of measuring our worthiness by actions alone. More so, to measure our faith in such a way seems to bring more torment than peace. Actions are required, but choosing to do so is peace. To be in a place of peaceful choice. Absent of self-satisfaction and full of self-giving deeds. And above all, the grace that comes from the freedom to say “yes” and to say “no.”
Name
It strikes me that at our baptisms the priest wants to know our name. What is it about our name? Why at this time of purification, immersion, and immense grace, it is only our name that becomes the verbal identification of our souls? No job, no looks, no accomplishments, no sins, no wounds, no tears, no emotions…just our name, immersed into Truth, into the Way, into Life. Oh, to be still, oh to be Brett.
Rooted in Your creation
I lose my stature
I lose my fullness
I lose my color
Thank You
Rooted in Your creation
I gain my stature
I gain my fullness
I gain my color
Thank You
Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of every man who speaks of me,
Christ in the eye that sees me,
Christ in the ear that hears me.
-Excerpt from the Lorica of St. Patrick
As the tree has its roots immersed into the firm foundation of the earth, so too are we rooted in the foundation of Christ. Trees will lose and gain their leaves, fullness, and color, yet their roots remain. We can lose our jobs, our looks, and our status, and we remain hopeful rooted in truth. And we are grateful. We can gain back our jobs, looks, and status, and our roots remain in truth. And we are thankful.
On the other hand, this truth is an invitation to follow the way of the cross. This truth causes great tension. For the way of the cross is painful when we allow it to examine our lives. We want to be happy and feel “OK,” yet if this is the foundation of our lives, we run the risk of our roots being planted in our fragile emotions and external circumstances. Over time we become anxious, insecure, and ungrateful.
Oh, to live through Him, with Him, and in Him…to follow His lead yet never lose hope. To follow Him into the depths of what needs to change and die in us, only to rise again in new life. Oh, to be thankful for the journey of death. Oh, to be grateful for the journey of life.
Yet I remain silent
I remain still
For you are present
You are God
“Be still and know that I am God!
I am exalted among the nations,
exalted on the earth.”
-Ps 46:10
To live a life with sincere hearts. For only here can we see Him. To quiet our senses. To quiet our soul. To give glory to Him with nothing more than our being. Beyond words, beyond actions, beyond thoughts, to be still, and know.