Even though the world seems to be in upheaval and you are facing ‘troubles’, the way we handle these ‘troubles’ impacts ourselves and those around us.
Do you look for the gloomy side of life circumstances, or do you go to ‘the trouble tree’ to lay your burdens of the day down?
Following is a lovely story I heard from Rev. Jackie Holland, Centers for Spiritual Living, Boise, Idaho
The Trouble TreeThere’s a story about a man who hired a carpenter to help him restore his old farmhouse.
Throughout the day, everything that could possibly go wrong for the carpenter, had gone wrong. He had a flat tire that
required hours to fix, his electric saw broke and his old pickup truck refused to start at the end of a grueling day.
His new boss offered to drive him home and the carpenter sat in stone silence staring out his window during the whole ride. Yet on arriving, he invited his boss in for a few minutes to meet his family. As they walked in, they passed a little tree in the front yard. The carpenter stopped and started touching different leaves on the tree. Afterward, when he walked into the house, he was transformed; he was a glorious, happy, energetic guy who kissed his wife and hugged his kids.
Afterwards, the carpenter walked his boss to his car to say thank you. On their way back out of the house, the boss asked, “Just out of curiosity, what did you do with that tree?”
“Oh, that’s my trouble tree,” he replied. “I know I will always have problems on the job, but one thing’s for sure – my troubles don’t belong in the house with my wife and children. So I just think about all of my problems, and hang them up on the tree every night before I go into the house. Then in the morning I pick them up again.”
“Funny thing is,” he smiled, “when I come out in the morning, somehow there are never as many of them, and they aren’t quite as big when I pick them up again.”-
~ Annoymous
Rev. Holland asks: “Can you make a commitment that whatever is going on in your life, you will consciously set aside your problems, quiet your mind to become still and available to experience the Peace and Presence of Spirit as your life and the life of all humanity in any situation?”
When I am ‘troubled’ to go to prayer and meditation to move me beyond myself and my circumstances. It is then that I begin to feel a greater sense of peace and faith. Surrendering my troubles (or leaving them at the Trouble Tree) to the creative power of God/Spirit, I feel my life and attitude changing. New pathways open to me.
Do you have a ‘Trouble Tree’ where you leave all your worries behind?