leaves.

I drove by a tree today... a tree that still had every single one of it's leaves. It was windy too, and none were blowing off. The dead, lifeless leaves were frozen to the tree and the tree didn't seem too eager to let go.

I watched the tree as I drove by and said in my mind, "You better drop your leaves, my friend. This is the winter season, the wrong time to hang on so tightly to summer's brief life. Let go. If you don't, there won't be any room for anything new to grow."

But if I let go, I will be naked. Stuck in the cold and barren soil.

But if I let go, I might die. What if no new life grows? It's better for me to cling to the dead remnants of the past than to risk having what might never come.

But if I let go, I will look like every other ordinary tree. I will have nothing that separates me out of the forest.

But if I let go, I am admitting that I can't conjure up life on my own. I will be helpless and have to admit to myself that I just can't do it.

I drove on.

And then Jesus said to me, "You better drop your leaves, my friend. This is the winter season, the wrong time to hang on so tightly to summer's brief life. Let go. If you don't, there won't be any room for anything new to grow."