This is a photo of an amazing Pohutukawa tree at the Auckland Domain. The heart of the tree looks ripped out twisted and broken. You would think that it is dead or at least dying and on its last legs... yet at the margins there if fresh growth, green leaves and a sense of vibrancy. It has begun to put down new roots as branches have touched the soil and this has given this old tree new life.
There is great beauty and a sense of solidity and strength in the structure at the middle... but it's not where the life really is. I admire the beauty of the shape of the tree but it seems empty and barren and some of that beauty is in the starkness of the trunks. It has held up the life and growth of this tree for so many centuries but it wasn't able to maintain the growth now, the tree had to find new ways of maintaining its life.
Now as I saw this tree I couldn't help but think of the challenge that the church in the west is facing (sorry predictable I know). You can go and see many great buildings that are amazing examples of architecture and engineering and that have for centuries held the life of God's people, and you can go and see denominational structures that have done the same... but in many cases it might be hard to find the vibrant growth and vitality that is able to sustain reproduction. yet as the branches have set down in the soil and planted roots in new places, developing new structures, sustaining life in different ways then that life and growth has happened.
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