Tuesday, May 11, 2010









There is a book that I love for its simplicity and poignant lesson. It is a story about a tree that, out of his immense love for a boy, willingly whittles to a stump. Whatever the boy asks of him, the tree gives generously and lovingly until it only has only a small fragment of himself to offer. Whenever I think of this story, I think of Christ who gave His life for selfish and foolish men. However, I also wonder where we, His followers, draw the line between self-preservation and self-destruction. How much should we give if we are not replenished? Christ gave His life on a tree so we would have eternal life, but we as finite beings cannot make that salvific sacrifice . In my life, there have been moments where I've given to the point of exhaustion, and there have been moments when I refuse to give so as to preserve my own emotional health. Giving to others-- whether emotionally or otherwise-- is beautiful, I agree. But if we give to the point where we our resources are exhausted, is that necessarily a wise choice?

The tree in Shel Silverstein's story unconditionally loves another to the point where it sacrifices its own vitality for a beloved's happiness. Perhaps it is the joy that comes from giving that makes this offering worthwhile. But, if our gifts are unappreciated or taken for granted, is there a point where we should walk away in order to preserve ourselves? Or should we continue to give unconditionally in hopes that, one day, our beloved will return to sit upon our own worn, world-weary stump? I often wonder where we make that important distinction.

3 comments:

  1. Christ gave with no self-interest in mind. Giving emotionally to the point of exhaustion probably means you have a desired outcome from this effort that may be outside of the scope of benefitting the other person.

    Also, Christ's effort (and the tree's) had a predictable outcome. If giving emotionally to another individual has a pattern of no positive benefit or results in an endless cycle of improvement and regression, then you are not "helping." In fact, you may be contributing to the cycle, or at best are merely harming yourself for no reason save selfishly silencing your flawed conscience.

    Am I making sense?

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  2. I was hoping for a response from you, and you didn't fail me :-))).

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  3. I'm just glad you changed the blog to black text on white background. My eyes, they thank you.

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