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There was a tree, standing somewhere in a wood not very far from
here.
Not a very old tree as trees go, quite young really, you could
call it a mere stripling. Oh it’s older than you or I of course,
but never the less, in the world of trees, this one was a mere youngster.
But despite its tender years, there was one thing that this tree
had been sure of since it’s very young days, and that was
that it knew everything.
Everything.
Every single thing that had ever been, that was now, and would
in fact, ever be. This tree knew it. He had always known it and
had felt no need to go travelling seeking experiences or to go looking
for some wise old Guru in search of knowledge and understanding.
He didn’t need to, he already knew everything.
And that was a great comfort to him.
Don’t ask me how, perhaps it was sensed on the wind, or
carried aloft then scattered all around by the moonbeams or passed
from one chatty squirrel to another eventually reaching the ears
of men and women, but somehow the word got out to people that there
was a wise tree that knew everything somewhere in the woods. And
slowly at first, then later in ever greater numbers, they came to
see this ‘wise tree of the woods’. From far and wide.
Each with their own questions…
And they would say to him:- “Tell me tree, why is that I
have this burning inside? This ache in my spirit that drives me
on, forever searching, forever feeling like I’m always just
one step behind, never quite connecting, never quite making that
last step that reaches the place where all my answers lie”
“Why is that, tree?”
And the tree would shrug. You know, the way trees do when they’re
trying not to look like they’re shrugging.
And he would say, “I dunno, what do you think?”
And he was asked:- “Tell me tree, where am I going with my
life? How long is my journey to last, what will I find along the
way and how will I know that I’m finally there?’ I never
seem to know where I’m going and I always have this ‘lost’
feeling as if I’m just drifting.”
“Why is that, tree?”
And the tree would smile. You know, the way trees do when they’re
trying not to look like they’re smiling.
And he would say, “I dunno, what do you think?”
And a careworn soul enquired of him:- “Tell me tree, why
is my life always so hard? How come every last little thing I try
to do or achieve causes me so much pain and heartache? I try so
hard all the time and I just seem to get nowhere.”
“Why is that, tree?”
And the tree would wink. You know, the way trees do when they’re
trying not to look like they’re winking.
And he would say, “I dunno, what do you think?”
Eventually the numbers of people who came to see the tree started
to dwindle and pretty soon he found himself standing in the woods
among his friends and family without any human visitors at all.
Once more happy and comforted in the knowledge that he knew everything.
He sighed a satisfied sort of sigh, you know, the way that trees
do when they’re trying not to let anyone know that they have
something satisfying to sigh about.
And the thing is, that most people didn’t get it. They just
didn’t get it at all. They had travelled in a sort of pilgrimage,
some of them from quite a way away to see this supposed ‘wise
tree of the woods’ because they needed answers to the burning
questions that forever tortured them. They needed the truth that
would speak to them of their problems and tell them all they needed
to know to make their lives better. And the tree hadn’t answered
them.
But do you know, one or two did get it. They completely got it.
They stood at the foot of that tree and suddenly realised that they
had come all this way to see the wise tree of the woods and had
found the answers they had been looking for. They hadn’t found
them within the tree after all, they had found the answers within
themselves the same as the tree had done.
They discovered that they already knew everything. They had always
known everything.
They had just needed to be asked. |
