The Hollow Tree

[image error]Pexels.com" data-medium-file="https://brendaknightgraham.wordpress...." data-large-file="https://brendaknightgraham.wordpress...." data-id="7284" src="https://brendaknightgraham.wordpress...." alt="" class="wp-image-7284" srcset="https://brendaknightgraham.wordpress.... 683w, https://brendaknightgraham.wordpress.... 100w, https://brendaknightgraham.wordpress.... 200w, https://brendaknightgraham.wordpress.... 768w, https://brendaknightgraham.wordpress.... 867w" sizes="(max-width: 683px) 100vw, 683px" />Photo by RDNE Stock project on Pexels.com

The picture is not of “my” hollow tree but it will have to do!

Has there ever been a hollow tree in your life? A certain lombardy poplar was one of my favorite places as a kid when I needed a hiding place. Everyone needs a hiding place every now and then, and not just when playing hide and seek. Sometimes life seems too big and overwhelming and one seeks a quiet spot away from demands, criticisms, and fearful things.

The lombardy poplar was in Turtle Hollow at Pinedale. It was a tree tall and stalwart on the side of a hill. An aged tree, she had developed a sizable cave in her side, plenty big enough for a child to crawl into and read a book. From that hiding place I could hear voices in the distance as my siblings played, or I might only hear a gentle wind in the tops of the trees. It was such a good place to enjoy a book or even hear the Lord God speaking to me.

But after a season of quietude, whether ten minutes or an hour, whether a game or not, I’d be ready to be found. Did anyone even miss me? I would sit in solitude hearing my own heart beating. I could peer out of my sweet nest and see only trees climbing a slope, a thick covering of leaves on the ground, and, far up through a leafy canopy, an opening to a deep blue sky. Everything was so still and quiet, not even a dog coming to sniff me out. I didn’t hear voices anymore. Had everyone left me? Just as I was about to crawl out of the hollow tree, brothers and sisters bounded into sight yelling boisterously. Though I pretended to be exasperated, I was so glad to be found.

There may not be a hollow tree anywhere near you. Or, like me, you may not fit in it anymore! But you may find a chair on the porch or some corner where you can, as the Quakers call it, center down. After a spell, when God has whispered peace and courage into your heart and you’re ready to “face the music,” you’ll be glad to be found.

Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. Matthew 7:7