Jesus, the Botanist .

So I have been having this thought a lot lately and it has much to do with our relationship to nature. Can humans ever be as graceful as trees? Yeah, I know that sounds weird but I am serious... hang on first please do not mistake me for some emotional hippie because I am not, I LOVE PAPER: it is very useful, but I think that our comparison to the grace of nature is a relevant question.
The first thought that comes to my mind when I hear the word trees is Narnia... the scene with Lucy dancing with the pink leaved poplars in Prince Caspian. There is this perfect serenity, completely graceful, an almost enveloping orra about them. Even when the perfection of Narnia is being doubted, even when the trees are "asleep" they seem to be magnificent, but it is when they are awake, when the are dancing, that they are completely awesome. I can never think of a time in my life when the first image of the word tree (completely segregated and by itself) was that of a mangled branch or a fungus covered stump, no it is always of a healthy living plant a thriving example of life.

So you may ask why the random rambling and thoughts about trees? Well, the response I would give you is, "Because the book of Mark got me thinking about the significance of trees in a wild sight restoration parable."

Here is the very confusing yet what i bleieve to be a very significant mention of trees, that started this initial thought process in Mark 8 --

22 They came to Bethsaida, and some people brought a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him.

23 He took the blind man by the hand and led him outside the village. When he had spit on the man's eyes and put his hands on him, Jesus asked, “Do you see anything?”

24 He looked up and said, “I see people; they look like trees walking around.” 25 Once more Jesus put his hands on the man's eyes. Then his eyes were opened, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly.

I dont believe that it was by accident that Jesus healed this mans eyes in two steps and I really dont believe that it was an accident that the man saw people as he had been imagining trees to look like his entire blind life.

I just think that not only was Jesus trying to show His cmplete power to restore sight any way that he wanted to, He also by revealing humans as trees, was giving the man a picture of how perfect and innocent and graceful we, humans, not only were originally created to be but have the opportunity of becoming through Him, Jesus Christ.

Invent Yourself

Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant, and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, and ruthless. Although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they no only continue to do these things but also approve of those who practice them.

While I realize that this is a bold and blatant passage it got my mind rolling. While in discussion the other day a friend of mine pointed out the use of the word invent. Invent is a practical and important word in Pauls discription of God's wrath. It proves that we are not only subject to sins of the world but that moreso as humans we come up with ways to intentionally and dilibertly disobey. -- In a culture that thrives on the cutting edge. In a culture that is out to pove itself and to create the next big thing we should make sure that we arent accidently creating our next downfall.

How will we invent ourselves?