Heart-In-Hand by Mary J. DuVal

We don't accomplish anything in this world alone ... and whatever happens is the result of the whole tapestry of one's life and all the weavings of individual threads from one to another that creates something.
~Sandra Day O’Connor

This post was generated in a roundabout way. My friend Jerry sent me a photo of the Lone Cypress. He had captured this famous California landmark on a grey sky day. I was inspired to paint it and then I asked Jerry to follow-up with writing about it for this blog. I had no idea what he’d write or what angle he would take, but I love the whole idea of the collaborative efforts and creative inspiration that went into our results. His writing and my painting follow.

Standing Firm
The painting by Mary Duval is from a photograph I took while driving the 17 mile loop around Pebble Beach on the Monterey Peninsula. It is an image beyond just being photogenic; beset by wave and wind year after year, this lone cypress tree still stands firm, and straight, and strong. Over 250 years old, it is emblematic of the development of this section of California.

From the observation area the visitor is afforded a great view of the cypress, the little spit of land into which it has sent it roots, and the Pacific Ocean. What you cannot see, or at least must look carefully to see, is the cable which has been attached to the trunk of this tree to keep it in place. There is just so much that the cypress tree itself can do to hold on to its place in this world, beyond that it is tethered to an immovable rock.

As a guest bloggist, I am writing this piece at a time when our government is involved in the biggest bailout of our financial institutions in the history of our country, a massive infusion of cash to save Wall Street. I cannot begin to imagine the complexities of such an undertaking. Banks and lending institutions that have been around for decades are crumbling under the weight of their own greed. And now, for better or for worse, there is a movement to attach a cable, a tether, to keep the American economy from sliding into the sea. Wall Street has been emblematic of the economic development of these United States. Who would have thought that Wall Street would ever need what it is facing today?

Perhaps some of you are worried about retirement portfolios; perhaps you are worried about weathering this latest disaster so soon after “Ike” knocked you down. When will it end? Truth is – it never does. Life, as I have come to appreciate, is what happens to us while we think we are on our way to someplace else. I think the more important question is: Am I connected to that which will keep me – and my family – from falling when the next perfect storm howls around us? Financial security is wonderful, but we do not have to look that far back in our own family history to know that it is far from certain.

Paul, writing to the Romans, says this:

“…Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, … or peril or sword? … No, … I am convinced [that nothing] in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

For all intents and purposes, that is the anchor to which the tether of our faith is tied. It may not be visible to the outside world, but you can feel its strength; you know it is there; and you are convinced that you will still be standing when everything else has fallen away.

The lone cypress is inspiring to those who marvel at the way it has prevailed for lo these 250 years. But beyond the inspiration, it is comforting for me to know that it is anchored to the rock of its salvation.

~Jerry Hurst