THE TREE THAT WAS ADOPTED

In the middle of a large forest, there was a small clearing, with just two beautiful trees in it.  As these trees grew, they shared many things.  They shared the wind that blew in their branches.  They shared the birds that sat in their midst and filled the air with singing.  They shared the sun that shone on their leaves.  They shared the gentle rain that fell around them to nourish them.  They shared the ground on which they stood.

As the roots from these two trees reached further and further out into the world, they finally touched each other and became entwined in each other.  The trees felt very close to each other, and knew they belonged together.  Gradually, they realized that they loved each other.  After a while, another tree began to grow between them, and then another, and then another.  They had become a family.

One day, there was a terrible fire in another part of the forest.  Many of the trees were burned – some were burned very painfully, and a few of them were completely destroyed.

After the fire, one of the foresters noticed a beautiful little tree that had survived the fire.  Some of its leaves had been singed, but it was basically a strong and healthy tree.  But one of the trees that had been its parent had been burned very badly, while the other had been burned to the ground.  The little tree had been left all alone.

The forester realized that it was not good for this little tree to grow up in this barren place.  So he very carefully took his shovel and dug all around he injured tree.  Finally, he could lift it out of the ground with lots of good soft earth clinging to its roots.  He put it in a large basked and started looking for a good place to transplant it.

As he walked through the forest, he came within sight of the other tree family.  Immediately, the two tall trees understood.  They looked at the ground beneath them; they looked at each other; they looked at their own three offspring.  They noticed a nice open space beneath them that would be an ideal place for transplanting another tree.  They wanted this beautiful little tree to be in their midst to become part of their family.  So they began to move their limbs and rustle their leaves to get the forester’s attention.

When he looked in their direction, the trees pointed their branches to the ground beneath them.  As the forester walked over to them, he knew in his heart that this was the place to transplant the little tree.

Very carefully, he began to dig a nice big hole in which to plant the little tree.  But some of the roots from the big trees had grown over into this area, as had some of the roots from the little trees also.  So when the forester dug in with his shovel, he cut some of these other roots – and that hurt a bit.  One of the little trees even cried.  But they knew deep in their hearts that anything worthwhile sometimes hurts a little.  And that made the new tree even more important to them.

Finally the forester was finished.  He placed the little tree in the hole, patted down the soft earth around him, and poured on lots of water.  He told the little tree he hoped he would be very happy here.

At first, the little tree was somewhat scared.  He didn’t understand about the fire; he didn’t understand about his parent trees being burned so terribly; he didn’t understand the forester digging the ground around him – and cutting some of his roots also.  He didn’t understand about being carried through the forest and being transplanted in the midst of another family.  No, there were lots of things the little tree did not understand.

Very gradually, the other trees began to reach out to him.  They didn’t want to do too much too quickly, for the little tree was very shy at first.  But day after day, they would point out a lovely flower that had just blossomed and was filling the world with fragrance.  Or they would be very quiet so he could hear the singing of a bird in the distance.  On a very hot day, they would shield him with their branches to protect him from the sun.  And during a terrible storm, they hovered around him to shield him from the harshness of the wind.

When he asked why they were treating him so lovingly, they simply said, “You are one of us now.  You are part of our family.”

As the trees all grew taller and stronger and healthier, their roots all grew together and their branches became intertwined.  Sometimes they would be playing together, sometimes teasing, sometimes supporting each other, and sometimes arguing.  But the more they grew, the more they realized, “We belong together.  We are a family.”