Unintentional Nails

It was sawmill time again today and the threesome that has constituted the Friday crew for most Fridays this summer turned a log into boards that will hopefully become a useful item at sometime in the future. One of the great parts about sawing is that the inside of each log is different from any other. Sometimes there are beautiful surprises in store as the internal colors and variation in grain are exposed. Sometimes there are less than desirable surprises such as today when the unmistakable sound change occurred that let us know we just cut through something harder than the Red Oak that was being transformed. Counting in from the outside growth ring we determined that about 30 years ago someone had driven a couple roofing nails into what was then the outside of the tree, no doubt to attach a no trespassing notice. The blade cut poorly after the encounter with the nails and had to be replaced earlier than would have otherwise been the case. The whole episode reminded me once more of how we learn and find parallels between the growth of trees and the growth of people.

The person who attached that sign to the tree is likely no longer living. However the act of doing so affected the tree the rest of its life and affected those of us attempting to do something with it. The tree was wounded, albeit in a minor way. Slowly the tree healed and after some time fully hid the nails that had been driven in all those years ago. People also become wounded and not necessarily in a physical way, usually at the hands of another person. Just like the tree, although we tend to be less patient, we cover the wound and, to those that see only the outside, appear unblemished just as that log did when it was put on the mill. The old timer who put the nails in that tree meant no harm. He no doubt would be sorry to hear it inconvenienced anyone all those years later. I would suggest that we also mean no harm sometimes when we drive nails into someone in the form of hurtful words or actions. But just like in the oak tree, that hurt never goes away and even though time allows the hurt to be overgrown, it is there and affects the person. Take time to get to know the people God puts into your life. We have all been wounded and our wounds affect our actions. Loving others requires that we take time to find out about the nails they have endured and accept them anyway. After all we've been told to love others by One who knows more than most about surviving nail wounds.