Burls

I was walking in the park the other day and noticed this growing on a tree near the path. Can you see it, about halfway down the picture, growing out of the trunk? I took the picture, thinking at the time that someday I might use it on the blog -- I wasn't sure for what, but I often don't know what will be an image's final destination when I take a picture. I just collect them.

Yesterday, the Disciplines devotion was about Hebrews 12:1-2. Take a took at verse 1:

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us,

As I read that, the idea which stuck with me was laying aside the weight and sin that clings, so that we can run the race with perseverance. No one wants to run a race carrying extra weight. We are blessed that God has provided a means by which we can lighten our loads.

I thought back this morning to that abnormal growth on the tree. I think, after doing some reading this morning, that this is a burl. A burl is wartlike growth on a tree. It is the tree's reaction to an injury or infection. I wonder if our weights and burdens have anything in common with tree burls.

• Sometimes, those weights and sins which weigh us down are the result of either our past mistakes or hurts that we have experienced. Our burls are our reactions to that pain. God offers us a way to relieve ourselves of those weights -- he has already forgiven either us or the person who hurt us. He also gives us the grace to extend forgiveness to others, and even to ourselves.
• Most trees live for years and years with burls. In some cases, a burl can become so heavy and can be such a burden, that it can cause the tree to die. I think that we walk through life with our burdens, trying to ignore them. In the worst case, when the weight is too big, it can bring us to spiritual death. We shouldn't fool ourselves into thinking that just because the weight isn't so large that it brings us to death that it has no effect at all. It does. That's why God is telling us to rid ourselves of it, and why he helps us to do that.
• The growth pattern in a burl on a tree is circular, twisted -- not the normal growth pattern in the tree. The tree expends energy creating this burl which could have been used to create a taller, more productive tree. We do that -- we allow our burdens to distract us from the plan God has for us; from our God given purpose.
• A burl is after all, just wood, but it isn't a strong wood. It's weaker, more prone to breakage. So are we, when we continue to carry our own 'burls' around with us.
• The most interesting part of what I read about burls was that woodworkers love them. The wood grain patterns that the tree creates in the burl are prized for the decorative aspects. People use large redwood burls for veneers, because of their patterns. I saw vases and other decorative objects made from burl wood. This is the happy ending of the story. God can take our pain, our hurt, our scars, and use them in loving ways. Think of the recovering alcoholic who leads people through healing from the disease. Consider the victim of spousal abuse who convinces new victims to escape. What about the one who has been able to give someone the gift of forgiveness and has changed both their lives? Our burls, amazingly enough, can become, through God, means of grace.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us...

Experience healing. Lose your burdens, and run your race, feeling lighter and free.