I’ve Been a Sucker

Don’t you love the trees coming back to life after a long winter? Everything brown is now luscious and green. Getting up and walking has become a nice morning routine for Steve and me during the COVID-19 pandemic. We moved into our condo in late fall, so this is the first time we see all the greenery in this planned development. Tree-lined sidewalks snake throughout the entire area, and you can see that much care has gone into every detail. Lawn care workers arrive each week to mow the grass and pick up broken branches. I’ve watched them cut out around the landscaping and make sure everything is perfectly manicured. It’s a beautiful thing to see, after caring for over an acre of land and landscaping beds.

On our daily walk, I began to notice something strange happening with some of the trees. It appears that leaves are randomly growing out of their trunks. The more I saw it, the more I saw it, if you know what I mean. I could not walk without looking for these strange abnormalities. Eventually, my inquiring mind needed to find out what happens to these trees, so I did what everyone does, I Googled it! Typing in these words, “why are leaves growing out of the tree trunk.” Here is what I found:

“In general, there are two reasons a tree might start growing suckers: because it’s under stress, or because a graft has failed. Suckers are a tree’s attempt to grow more branches, often in response to some kind of injury. If the roots have been damaged, suckers may grow from the base of the trunk.” www.loveyourlandscape.org

Landscaping experts say “suckers” develop when a tree is under stress. The tree begins to “act out” in response to injury or damaged roots. In our area, trees have been decimated by the Spotted Lantern Fly the past few years. I remember seeing the very first lanternfly on our deck two years ago. I showed it to Steve, proclaiming how beautiful it was! I had no idea that this “beautiful” insect was bent on destroying trees. Two years later, those trees are feeling the stress and acting out by “suckers,” pushing through the trunks of trees. If not taken care of, this will eventually destroy the tree.

The more I thought about this description over the past few days, the more spiritual application I find. The Bible talks much about our lives being like a tree.

In Psalm 1:1-3 it says,

“Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers. But they delight in the law of the Lord,

meditating on it day and night. They are like trees planted along the riverbank,

bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do.”

Matthew 7:17 (NLT)

“A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit.”

Right now, as Americans, we are under stress due to the COVID-19, and some of us are acting out. I’ve heard stories of kids breaking down in tears or being just plain angry. We are seeing adults act and react in ways that do not represent who we want to be as a country. There have been three incidents of racial injustice that makes my heart sick, which is probably the tip of the iceberg. The health of our country is at stake.

The good news is this; there is a treatment for “suckers.” Here is what an expert says:

If your tree is producing “suckers,” you need regular pruning. However, if you wait too long, the pruning can destroy the tree because you are digging into the bark, so it’s important to prune suckers before they’re so old that their tender skin turns to bark. When you prune a large, woody sucker, you often create a wound that may prompt the tree to grow even more suckers. www.loveyourlandscape.org

There are moments in my life where stress causes me to “act out” in a way that is not beneficial to myself or those around me. Possibly you have too. In those moments, God wants to “prune” our life, so we do not have “suckers” in a spiritual sense. Suckers will drain our spiritual growth and emotional health. They need to be dealt with regularly.

John 15:2 “He cuts off every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and he prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more.”

Amid this COVID-19 crisis, racial injustice is being exposed, and we are seeing a lot of acting out, due to the stress. Let’s permit God to prune us individually and as a nation to bring health to our lives. The longer we wait, the worse the situation becomes, and the cost could be deeper wounds to our country. We need pruning by the master landscaper, so, as a country we produce good fruit.

As I walked through our development and prayed, I noticed that the suckers had been removed. The landscaping team has been busy preparing our development for a healthy summer season. There are trees of all ages and types and people of all ages and types. I truly love that about our area.

No one is more important than the next person; we are all important to each other and God. Remember, In Jesus there is not white or black or female or male, slave or free according to Galatians 3:28.

I do not want to be a sucker; how about you?

Blessings,

Liz