Consider the Acorn

Out on the playground one day, I had two first grade students, one a Jehovah Witness and the other a full blooded Native American, arguing about God and whether or not he was real. I told both of them to go and get an acorn. I simply asked, “Where did the acorn come from?” Both looked at me and said, “the oak tree”. I then asked, “Where did the oak tree come from?” Both said, “the Acorn.” I then asked, “how did the oak tree get in the acorn”. “Did either of you put it there? Did anyone put it there?” Now let me tell you, for a young and dumb school teacher who had separation of church and state shoved down her throat for quite a few years, I was treading on very shaky ground. Thankfully there was an enormous oak tree on the playground that provided quite a spectacle and a perfect visual aid. I finally said that they needed to think about all they had seen and heard and that it was ok to disagree. And yes, I did quietly slip in that I believed that only God could have put a gigantic oak tree inside of a tiny acorn and left it at that. There is way more to this story, as you can well imagine, but I’ll save it for another day, maybe.

Did I handle that situation as well as I could have? Probably not, but I have also never forgotten that moment. It was an “ah ha” moment for me as well. God provides everything around us as examples of his greatness and majesty. Not one of us can make an oak tree. We can plant an acorn. We can water and tend it to the best of our ability, but only someone with supernatural powers can make it grow to the point that you could sit under it in the shade, climb in its limbs, watch birds and squirrels take up residence among the branches, or eventually see it harvested and turned into lumber for a home or furniture or a hundred other things. That someone is God! We, as mere humans, cannot make the sun shine. We cannot make the rain fall. We cannot bring a change to the seasons to help the trees through their life cycle. Only God can do that. So, as you go throughout your day, consider the acorn. Inside of that tiny seed, is food for wildlife, a home for birds and squirrels, shade on a hot day, limbs to climb on, or lumber to build with. God gives us many, many examples of his mighty works all around us. Don’t forget to look and consider even the acorn.

Genesis 1:29-30 ESV

And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so.

Dear Lord, open our eyes that we may see your might works, the beauty of your creation, the miracles that happen every day when we take time to see them. Amen.

I couldn’t leave out Joyce Kilmer. If you have never heard of him, yes, Joyce was a man. He is the one who wrote the poem Trees and NC has a huge forest/ park named after him, The Joyce Kilmer forest. He was a poet and a solder who died in battle. Enjoy this poem.

Trees

BY JOYCE KILMER

I think that I shall never see A poem lovely as a tree. A tree whose hungry mouth is prest Against the earth’s sweet flowing breast; A tree that looks at God all day, And lifts her leafy arms to pray; A tree that may in Summer wear A nest of robins in her hair; Upon whose bosom snow has lain; Who intimately lives with rain. Poems are made by fools like me, But only God can make a tree.

Read more about Joyce Kilmer. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/joyce-kilmer