The Broken Silhouette by: Bobby Smith There is a stately Oak tree, in our neighbors pasture, that has become an important part of my life; No Matter the season, in full dress or bare, it cast a perfect silhouette against the southern sky, and serves as a daily reminder, of Gods beauty and love. When life's struggles brought me down, I'd spend many hours on my front porch swing, gazing at that marvelous tree. The huge limbs, rambled off in many directions, each an entity on its own, yet still connected to their life-giving base. Our cabin is surrounded with trees, many of them Oak, but this one tree, standing alone at the top of the hill, with it's perfectly, balanced form, energized my spirit and spoke to my soul. That all changed for me two years ago. A twisting wind, sweep down the hills above our cabin, and sent us scurrying to our basement. We emerged shaken, but thankful for our safety and what appeared to be only minor damage. Then I cast my eye, up the hill. What I saw made me, catch my breath. "Oh no!" I whispered. My beloved Oak tree, with its once perfect form, was now twisted and broken. We walked up the hill to assess the damage and cut away the damaged limbs. There were some, too high to reach; They dangled from the tree, like a broken arm torn from its socket. My mind raced backwards to all the times I had watched this perfect silhouette, emerge from the morning fog. I knew I had lost something special, as we trudged back down the hill. Since that day, I've had difficulty looking at that tree. For a while my eyes would automatically look up the hill, but I would quickly look away, when I saw those dangling branches; Even when their leaves turned green, indicating life, I didn't want to look. All I could think of, was how perfectly formed, this tree used to be. In time, I quit looking . . . it was just too painful. One morning, I wondered out to the porch with my morning tea. I was grieving over the death of a friend. I was thinking of his wife, and how her life had been forever changed, in the blink of an eye. My heart ached for her, much like it had ached for that Oak tree . . . my eyes leaped forward, up the hill. There it stood, tall, broken, but still living. The healthy branches still reached for the sky; The twisted ones still dangled from the base, a constant reminder of what had been taken from it, but still the Oak lives. My eyes grew moist as I realized, my beautiful Oak tree was still teaching me about life. It was teaching me, how we do live on, through the grief, through the pain, we still have a journey to complete. Our loved ones are torn from us, and in the moments of grief, we wonder how we can continue to live without them, but live we must. We will complete our journey, perhaps a little sadder, a little more weary, and yes a bit broken, but like the Oak tree . . . we still have lessons to teach.

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Sketch by my son: Dave Buttrum music recorded &  performed by: Bobby Smith (music recorded for listening pleasure only) To purchase  song go to Martina McBride's web site & purchase her latest CD "Waking up Laughing."

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