Ecclesiastes, the Trinity Tarn, and a Subtle Allusion to The Shawshank Redemption

As I was walking briskly across campus towards the Barilla office this morning, I noticed a tree lying on its side in the tarn (this is how I was instructed during my first semester to refer to the pond behind the mansion; I never knew until just now that this term is reserved for mountain ponds). The sudden arrival of spring, with its attendant rain and thaw, had apparently turned to mud the once firm earth that held the tree leaning precariously over the water, and it toppled with what I idealize in my mind as a mighty splash, though it was probably nothing of the sort. Two geese, oblivious to the overnight calamity, paddled indifferently nearby.

The scene brought two thoughts almost simultaneously to mind. I thought first of Ecclesiastes 11:3 ("...and if a tree falls to the south or to the north, in the place where the tree falls, there it will lie.") and how R. C. Sproul became a Christian after the captain of his college football team shared it with him (I know, I can't believe it either, but it happened). The second, more lasting thought was this: time is actually passing. That tree has irreversibly fallen; it will never stand again. Spring has come, and we will never have that winter again. Other winters, sure, but that one's gone for good, or soon will be. Those geese will be back for a few seasons, but then they'll be gone, too. Time is passing. Every sunset closes a chapter we won't get back and can't rewrite.

I'm not trying to be a fear-monger. I'm glad spring is here. Soon we'll have flowers shooting up and trees squeezing out buds. The geese will start preparing a site for their eggs, and after that, goslings. I'll probably forget all about the tree and blog about how life is full of new beginnings. But God's message for me today was that tree, and Ecclesiastes 11:3. The next verse reads, "He who observes the wind will not sow, and he who regards the clouds will not reap." If you wait for the perfect moment, you'll still be waiting when the tree falls. Get busy living, or get busy dying.

If you're not living the life you want to live, what are you waiting for?