The ol’ Snake Tree
We are surrounded by trees. Big trees, little trees, and every tree in between surround our house. Even our house was made from Tennessee pine, fashioned into nice long beams that are stacked in a way that resemble a house! We live in a forest and trees are the scene here.
Our nightly walks and many of my bike rides and runs go further up the mountain. It’s where the blacktop ends and even more trees begin. There are no houses here; just more trees. And while I can identify some kinds of trees from just being around so many there is one tree that captures my attention. The top of this tree is most definitely a Pine but my family recognizes the bottom half as a “snake tree”.
This sounds awful and terrifying and trust me, it is! Snakes on the ground are bad enough but seeing a giant tree with snakes suspended above our heads is downright creepy. This tree stands next to the road and it’s bigger than just about any other tree nearby. It’s noticeable just in its size and scale. But in the summer months it’s creepy and gross when you see snakes slithering in and out of its many holes. It’s a huge tree and home to stuff we just don’t want to be around and yet we always stop and stare at this towering conundrum of life, death, good and bad.
Jan and I first noticed this because we are used to looking at trees. We look at trees all the time because they are around us; some attract other life to them. We see squirrels jumping from limb to limb. We hear woodpeckers pecking. Some trees have markings from other animals rubbing up against them. Our senses pick up what is happening to the trees around us.
But the sight of snakes making their home in a giant tree is pure ick! We have no idea how many snakes can fit in this tree nor do we want to find out quite honestly. Amazingly, even with its trunk full of slithering serpents the tree is still very much alive. Even though the bottom is hollowed out and snakes have taken up residence here the tree isn’t a goner- yet. While half of the top has been splintered off there is a section that has taken off and continues to grow and produce pine needles every year. From some viewpoints the snake tree is just like all the other trees standing in the forest.
Except it’s not. This tree is like a snake Airbnb while the other trees are just standing there, smaller and less, share we say, active. Those trees are plentiful but nothing makes them stand out from the crowd. They will get bigger but that will take decades. Their roots will grow deeper. Their limbs will gain strength and when the wind blows they will be pushed around a bit. Just their resistance to the elements will strengthen their resolve to keep growing. There is life from under the ground to the top of the tallest branch and strength is gained over time, from the inside out. It’s just not as noticeable as a flock of snakes moving in and out of an already big tree!
The snake tree has life too, but it appears only at the top section. The bottom is inhabited by things that will eventually lead to the tree’s demise. The top will cease to grow when the base is riddled by snakes doing snake things. I can imagine this tree will eventually have to be dealt with; either with a chainsaw or by the pressure of wind, rain, snow or any other natural element that proves too much for a snake tree to handle. It will be forever remembered by my family as the snake tree and while it captures our curiosity we won’t miss it on our ventures up the road!
I don’t want to be a snake tree. I want to grow big and strong like any other person. I want to have a place in the forest. But I don’t want the bad stuff to take residence as the base of my growing! There’s no shortage of snakes in the forest that are looking for a place to live; they may promise short-term gain and life but it would be a grave mistake to let them set up shop. I would imagine that you don’t want to be a snake tree either.
The difficult part is that being a healthy tree, any other tree than a snake tree, isn’t quick, easy, or glamourous. There aren’t many healthy trees that are as big as the snake tree on our road. You can’t even see the growth of the other trees because it’s so slow! They aren’t as noticeable as the snake tree. The snake tree seems to have it all going on, it’s big, tall, it’s still growing and producing. But its time is coming.
If you can relate to being one of the “regular” trees in the forest take heart. The pressure is real but it’s going to produce. The growth may be slow but there’s purpose. You have been planted, rooted, and will grow to be full of life. You may even lose a limb or two that doesn’t belong or is holding your back. There are no shortcuts. That part is painful for me to write! Keep rejecting those snakes! Existing as a healthy tree means you are set aside for something else. The wind will blow but your limbs will wave in worship. The ground will move but your roots will support you. You will provide cover for others and produce good things throughout your seasons.
If you are relating to the snake tree there’s hope for you too. It’s never too late to ask for removal of those snakes. Every tree in the forest has experienced a snake encounter; it’s part of living in the woods. But allowing snakes to take up residence is where we need more than a sign that says “no trespassing”. It needs snake repellent. It needs something so unappealing to snakes that they move along and stay on the ground where they belong and not enter the trunk of an otherwise beautiful tree. The snake tree on our road might have a chance if snakes stop residing in its trunk! There will be a sad day coming for the snake tree when a lifetime of housing snakes means its base can no longer support the top. But imagine a giant tree that has been evicted of snakes that still grows! What a story!
The forest only exists if it’s the land of the living. Trees are needed to stand upright no matter what their name or species may be. They may have a life of slow growing and steady deepening of their roots. Others may have lost a limb or two yet still reach to the sky with what remains. Yet others have battled direct hits of wind, rain, snow, and yes, snakes to tell their story. But those that stand function as a forest and are rooted in the same source of life. They cling to what is good and reject what is evil. They are battled but not broken. They have a name and it’s not “snake tree”!
We live in a forest full of trees that includes you, me, and unfortunately tree-climbing snakes in the form of sin. Jesus came to give us roots and write a story that spans from top to bottom. It can be a slow grow, a pruning of sorts with the removal of some dead branches, or a “displace all the snakes” out of our hollow trunks! Maybe it’s a bit of all three. Stay rooted in Him and grow. Reject what isn’t from Him and hold on. Fill that hollow trunk with Jesus and not those snakes!
