Magical Trunk

 

It crouched in the corner of the churchyard. The sort of trunk I might have seen in films like Harry Potter (I imagine – I’ve never actually seen any Harry Potter movies).

Wow. My companion and I approached and I peered into the gaping hole.

A flash of white disappeared further in, further down, and I drew back, startled. What was it? Could it have been a baby owl, or was my fantastical imagination taking over? But then we heard them. A nest of owlets (or some other sort of large bird with white babies?).

From where we stood, the broken trunk appeared dead. But from the far side sprouted branches, leafing in green, stretching upwards, declaring life. Not only was there life finding shelter in what appeared to be dead, but what appeared to be dead was not.

A beautiful encouragement to my companion, whose daughter passed away a few months ago. What appears to be dead, is not.

A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from the roots a branch will bear fruit. Isaiah had a vision of Life sprouting from what appeared to be dead; of Jesus Christ, our redeemer, coming from the line of David.

What looks dead will come to life. We see it every spring. This trunk was a striking visual.

The light seems to be going out in the world, as violence, environmental degradation, injustice and secularisation spread. But as the cliché goes, it’s always darkest before the dawn.

What looks dead will come to life. Those owlets were hungry, crying out for food. I am hungry for the righteousness of the Lord to rise in our day. May I cry out to him with as much passion and fervour as those babies in the nest.