Recorded MP3 audio meditations: downloads and audio streams, written reflections and contemplative resources by Dorinda Miller

Written Reflections

The Tree of Your Life

The Tree of Your Life - Introduction

After all the planning and preparations Christmas is here!  May your day be filled with peace and joy and love and laughter as you celebrate the birth of Jesus, Prince of Peace, with your family and friends.

At this time of year the focus of these notes is usually related to the season, the birth of Jesus and the surrounding events.  However this year, we are going to take a different route.  We will use the analogy of a tree to reflect on our lives, as the year draws to a close.

In his first letter to the Corinthians Paul writes:

“When you put a seed into the ground, it doesn’t grow into a plant unless it dies first. And what you put in the ground is not the plant that will grow, but only a bare seed of wheat or whatever you are planting. Then God gives it the new body he wants it to have. A different plant grows from each kind of seed.” (1 Corinthians 15:36-38 NLT)

The laws of nature seem, in many ways, to be in stark contrast to the pace of life in our day and age.  We have the expectation of instant access to information and communication, and many people are caught up in a fast whirl of activities and responsibilities.  Not so the seed, planted in the ground growing silently, in solitude, out of sight, below ground.  Using the material within it to grow roots, until the seedling emerges above ground where it can gain its nutrients from the air, sunlight and water.

We like seeds grew silently, in solitude, in the safety of our mother’s wombs, as did Jesus. Even though he was with God in the beginning, he came as a baby and lived on earth, growing up in relative obscurity until he began his ministry.

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was with God in the beginning.  Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.  In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.  The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” John 1: 1-5 (NIV)

Written by Dorinda Miller; © D Miller 2018. For full credits please see the site credits page

Next Reflection:

Create A Tree