What do you have in your hand? – that is a question
that reverberates continually in my mind. Indeed, what do I have in my hand?
And what do you have in your hand? This is a loaded question. Especially if we
start to play around with it.
I can play around with this question and arrive at
surprising answers if only I ask different questions. I can ask for instance
whether I can find a man’s hand in a tree stump?
Or where else can I find man’s hand? What do we leave
as a legacy?
The handiwork of mankind can even be found on the moon
and on our way to Mars. We leave our junk on Mount Everest; sadly, so we even
leave human bodies on that sacred mountain. Our junk, made by human hands are
clogging up the creatures of the seas of the world. I am not on a rant to
promote a clean green earth or to remove the human remains from our high
mountains. No, I want to tell you a different story of my friend and where he found
a man’s hand.
At times one can find a hand in a tree or shall I
rephrase that one: you may find a man’s hand in a tree stump. That place where
the trunk dives under the soil towards the roots; that is where this particular
hand was found by my friend Leendert Joubert. That dried out piece of trunk cum
roots held something beautiful – at least it is beautiful if you want to see
it. Otherwise you may only see a piece of junk that might make good compost or
if you don’t want to spend any time on it, to just get rid of. My friend and I
prefer to see the beauty. And he is still sculpting it.
When he found it in his shed, the wrist was “missing”
and he had to do something. By the way, the thumb was missing too and he had to
craft that as well and he did a very good job of it, not that it will qualify
him from becoming a plastic surgeon!! We should not be too harsh on him; have a
heart it was his first “tree surgery.” Well, if you are able to see a man’s
hand [at first blush, it was without a thumb and yet he saw a hand] in a
throw-away piece of junk, you are in a prime position to make a plan to do
something about that “missing” wrist and to craft a thumb. And he did. He sent
me a photograph of his “solution” to the problem; and looking at the photo, it
looks as if it is the cuff of the man’s white shirt.
In the meantime my Franschhoek oak trees are growing
in my maternity ward [you will remember that I refer to my “nursery” as my
maternity ward because it is full of life and death], and I pick up “dead”
leaves from my neighbours’ trees. Leaves from any tree are still part and
parcel of trees, not so? If I then tell you trees are never far from my mind,
you will begin to understand how my mind works [let’s say on this level].
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“Dead” leaves are so colourful and full of life – it
makes good compost to feed your garden. These leaves are so magnificently
sculpted by nature; the lack of sustenance created a piece of sculpture. Each
fallen leave is created differently. This process is endless in variety and in
colour and in texture. There is always something to admire and to wonder about;
to stand in silent admiration and in rapt awe!! This is truly awesome; the
Kardashians and lamentable Prince Harry are not awesome; compare the
voluptuousness of the Kardashians to a fallen leave; I prefer the leave!
One day not so long ago [it was actually on the 19th
day of October 2022] the wind was blowing and howling around the corners of the
house and surrounds. All of a sudden, I looked at the celtis Africana and this
strong upright tree was caught up by the wind; on a normal day the leaves are
rustling; the sound is so peaceful but not on the 19th October 2022.
The video you can watch now is just a teaser for the longer version that you
can access on my youtube channel by clicking on this link.
Video van die witstinkhoutboom in die wind.
This invisible force was pushing it about at it
pleasure. Backwards and forwards and sideways and up and down – at its will.
The leaves were shaking and I stood in rapt admiration at the forces of nature
in my front yard. Yes, I am aware of tsunamis and other forces of nature out
there; this display was a couple of meters away from me; I felt its forceful
presence on my body; I smelt the dust and stuff that were tossed around the
tree and the plants. It was flying around in all directions. The speckles of
dust were up my nostrils. It was inescapable. You had to notice it. Please
share my joy with this short video of my celtis shaking in the wind.
I recall the forces of nature my wife and I witnessed
in Grahamstown, now re-named Makhanda, during a destructive downpour we had.
The river was in full force and it ripped out everything in its path; it ripped
open the sides of mountains and washed away cattle and birds and trees and
sheep. It was a frightful experience. Rushing destructive waters rushing by on
its path to destroy further down.
And there is another tree that is not destructive
provided you cultivate a personal relationship with the Man that was hung on
that Tree. What Tree am I referring to? And why do I use a capital T? St. Peter
wrote to the believers in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bythinia [first
century Christian churches] in his first letter chapter 2 verse 24:
“He
himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and
live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.”
There is another remarkable Scripture which you may
read in the Gospel according to John chapter 1 verse 51: Jesus saw this man
called Nathanael sitting under a fig tree and He called him to be His follower.
This remarkable: He saw Nathanael sitting under a fig tree. Well, it seems to
me as if He might be aware of me and of you.
I trust that you will respond.
Trees are miracle-workers – please enjoy your tree
which might be a fig tree – who knows?
Please write me a letter: neelscoertse@wirelessza.co.za
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