Telling the Story

“Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.”

• Mark 16:15

Thanks to over-the-counter antihistamines, I can enjoy springtime. I don't have to look at the thin coat of yellow pollen that covers my car in the morning and wonder, “What is that stuff doing to my eyes, nose, and lungs?” Thanks to antihistamines, I can enjoy the beauty and color of spring. 

Flowers everywhere. Trees sporting their fresh, new-growth green. I especially love the dogwood trees in bloom.

Of all the spring flowers, the dogwood is my favorite. As far as trees go, the dogwood is on the scrawny side—its main trunk twists and leans to one side. Its branches are thin and scraggly. But when the trees are in bloom, they become an elegant sea of off-white and green, with just enough space between the branches to get glimpses of the sky. 

Technically what I have traditionally assumed to be petals are actually called “bracts”, and the real flowers are what the bracts surround, those bumpy looking thingies in the middle. 

But I digress. 

There is a legend concerning the dogwood. The legend claims that at the time of Jesus the dogwood tree was the largest and strongest of trees, and its wood was used to make the cross on which Jesus hung. The dogwood was distressed that it was used for such a cruel purpose, so it determined never again to grow straight enough or large enough to be made into a cross; henceforth it would be twisted and bent.

Its petals would form the shape of a cross, and the end of each petal would have a notch in it that would resemble the mark of the nail. The center of the flower, rough and stained with blood, would serve to recall the crown of thorns.

It's just a story, I know. But it got me to thinking about other instances in nature that remind me of the cross. 

I have noticed pine trees in early springtime that sprout a yellow shoot as new growth. Then – often close to Easter – the yellow shoot will branch off and form the shape of a cross. 

And donkeys. Did you know that donkeys have a cross-shaped mark on their back and shoulders? It's true.

It turns out that nature is remarkably good at pointing to the cross.

All this makes me wonder, how well do you and I tell the story of Christ's suffering love? The story is proclaimed remarkably well by inanimate trees; can the same be said about you and me? 

I'm not really talking about the written or spoken word (though what we say is important); I am mainly thinking about how we live our lives. St. Francis of Assisi once said, "Preach often. If necessary, use words." Our lives tell a story. What story do they tell? Do our lives declare that God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son? Like the dogwood, and the pine tree, and the donkey, is there anything in our lives that naturally points others to the suffering love of Jesus Christ?

Just something to think about. Our lives should always point to the One who died on the cross for our sin. Jesus commands us, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.”

If the dogwood can do it, don't you think we can, too?