What’s the connection between a fallen pine tree and surrender? You might be wondering.
Bear with me. Let me tell you the story.
We have a beautiful garden at the house where I was raised. In that garden once stood tall and proud, 70-year-old pine tree. It towered higher than the house itself. Every time I visited, my Granny would say “We have to trim or cut down the pine. It might fall and damage the roof”.
And I would always reply “Granny, the tree is older than me. How would it fall?” – brushing off her concern.
It was a day in November.
A storm rolled in. Granny called me in distress: “The pine has fallen. It’s blocking the door – I can’t get out of the house!”.
I was in disbelief “How is that even possible?” – I asked her several times, needing her to confirm what I’d just heard.
There was no power in the house. The heating was not working. It was freezing, and she’s alone – unable to get out.
I called my niece “Please contact emergency services and ask them to go over. I can’t call them from abroad”.
She acted immediately.
Within the hour, help arrived. They restored the power, cleared the brunches from the door, and send a photo of the fallen pine tree…
I looked at the picture and couldn’t believe my eyes!
The tree had fallen in the most perfect direction. Not a single thing was damaged. The gutter was insignificantly dented. The rest of the garden was pristine. It was as if the tree had chosen the safest way to fall—something no human could have orchestrated. Only a higher power could guide it with such precision. A force far greater than us. The invisible intelligence that makes everything fall into place.
Fast forward: There’re times I catch myself wanting to know, to predict so I can control life…
Only to be reminded of the fallen pine tree.
Life cannot be predicted. It can’t be controlled.
Life is meant to be lived.
Control equals stress and dis-ease.
Surrender is peace.
Gnosis is trust – trust in that invisible force that arranges everything perfectly, even if doesn’t look the way we hoped or imagined.
The moment of surrender is not when life is over. It’s when it begins.
Marianne Williamson
Everything is happening for the benefit of our evolution – to help us grow beyond our limitations and constrains, to remind us of who we truly are.
It’s not easy to believe when everything seems to be “falling apart.”. But is it “falling apart’ or “falling into place”?
There’re times when life throws more at us than we think we can handle – but that’s when we reach out for help. We’re never alone and never have been. We reach out, we connect and we grow together.
And just like the fallen pine tree, everything is falling into place.
There’s no need to control.
Just trust and surrender to the flow called life.
