Every time I walked the trail near the house where I used to live I went by the tree in this picture. This was my favorite of all the hundreds of trees in our subdivision. There was no other tree like this one. This tree is an anomaly. I've wondered, is it one tree or two trees? Would it be considered deformed? If trees could talk would the other trees make fun of it? Would they exclud it from their tree games? That may sound silly. I guess it is, but I think there is a lesson to be learned from this odd, little tree.
We live in a world of oddities, or so we think. Many surmise that those things that are different are odd and unacceptable . Every culture has something of an unwritten code defining what is outside the boundaries of being normal. Children learn quickly how to spot others who are different, those who are odd. Like the anthropomorphic trees I mentioned above, children sometimes make fun of their classmates who are different. Many of the so called odd children are excluded. Some of these biased, insensitive children never grow up, and as adults they continue their cruel treatment of those who are not the right size, not the right color, don't dress the way they do, and exclude anyone who is not in the social class in which they live .
Jesus would tell us that there are no odd, unacceptable people. He proved that by the way he treated others. Jesus hung out with those who many today wouldn't dare go near. He associate with sinners. He was a friend to the crippled, the blind, the lepers, and those filthy Samaritans, even a sinful Samaritan woman. Jesus excluded no one. He never saw an odd person then nor now. In his eyes all of us are the same. He loves everyone of us. Where did we get the idea that there are odd persons whom we should not associate? I think if Jesus had literally walked with me on that trail he would have stopped, looked at my favorite tree and said, “Would you look at that wonderful little tree? What a fine tree it is!”
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