Lesson from a bristlecone pine tree: Letting go…
A time to keep, and a time to cast away. Ecclesiastes 3:6 (b)
Time is a sort of river of passing events, and strong is its current; no sooner is a thing brought to sight than it is swept by and another takes its place. Marcus Aurelius
In January, we looked at the first of a number of lessons to be gleaned by the example of a bristlecone pine. In that post, we looked at how bristlecone pines never stop growing throughout their entire lives, considering what a good example that is to us to never stop growing as well. This post will look at the trees’ model of letting go, when necessary.
If you ever get the chance to visit the ancient bristlecone forest, you will notice that some of the trees have twisted weathered parts interspersed with healthy living branches. The tree uses “sectored architecture” to improve its overall survival. This means that if a root area is damaged or an area of the trunk or branches is damaged, only the part of the tree associated with that area will die back (whether root, trunk part, or branch part). By not using precious resources of water and nutrients for an area that is no longer productive, the rest of the tree can thrive and grow. That “lost” part was valuable for a time, but then it was better to let go and focus on other areas.
We humans tend to try to hold onto things that we need to let go. Over decades, I’ve known many people hold onto jobs which make their quality of life or poor or even miserable. Many things can conspire to keep people in unpleasant jobs. Sense of loyalty to other coworkers, fear of leaving the familiar for the unknown, thought of work required in a career change, or abandoning good benefits and wages for the unknown. The same ideas apply to some habits, certain relationships, and much of our material possessions. Likewise, this iron grip on the familiar can be true of Christians in many areas too. Some hold onto a specific ministry when God is really nudging them to trust Him and try something different. Some are not willing to switch to a different church or denomination when it’s a new season of life and God is calling in a new direction.
Like the bristlecone pines, we need to know that many things in our lives are seasons, not meant to be a commitment forever. Just as the bristlecones weathered gnarled branches are a testament to its life in good and hard times, those past things may be a beautiful part of who we are as well as witness to those around us. Yet when we begin letting go of something that is no longer healthy for us, we too can thrive and continue to grow.
