On Planting a Tree

Welcome,

This picture was shot from my south study window. This is an apple tree in full bloom. When I walked under it a few moments ago there was a loud hum of hundreds of honeybees working the blossoms, trying to extract the sweet nectar from the blossoms. A beautiful sound really, a symphony announcing the coming rites of spring.

When was this tree planted? And by whom? It sets one to wondering. Whose dream was it when planted? I have been here nearly twenty one years. It surly predated me by many years as it was a huge tree at that time when I trimmed it back. There's a heavy piece of old concrete, two feet by three about, that has the year 1947 scrawled unevenly on it, that lies half buried nearby. Was the tree planted around that time. The place was built in 1910 and does it span a century and some?

Did any youngsters fall out and break an arm or skin a knee and run to Mom to be kissed to chase the hurt away. How many apples were plucked and pies baked at the oven in a cozy kitchen by a devoted and loving wife?

To plant a tree requires hope and expectation.  Was this planted by a child in the hopes that one day he could put a swing in it? Not realizing that by the time the tree was sturdy enough for his playful summers he would more likely be off in a distant land fighting a war, or off to college or perhaps already raising a youngster of his own. Or was it the farmer who wanted the fruit to sell as part of the contribution to the family income? Or was it the wife who anticipated the crunchy fruit for the lunch table or the steaming apple pie that would entice her husband from the fields?

To plant a tree requires one to look for a good that is afar off. Many trees won't reach their full maturity until the one who planted has passed from this earth. There is something that ties generations together by the planting of a tree. We intuit that we are not alone in this world. That our life is extricably bound up in the lives of others. That the goods that we share, that were rooted from generations before, tie us to our past and the roots that we put down bind us to future generations, that we are part of a bigger picture, a common good that we share, that we serve, a security and  a delight because we are a part of the this larger Good.

The family of course is the first and immediate community, where each member with their unique qualities fit them to their respective roles. Food, shelter, and clothing are the most fundamental goods brought about by the common effort but by no means the highest. Friendship, love, knowledge are just some of the fruits that have its wellsprings in the family.

Next comes the political community. Man is by nature social. He finds his happiness in the common good brought about by efforts of many, bound in friendship to the thriving of the whole community.

We don't find this very clear in the muddiness of everyday politics. That's always messy. But we have been further muddied by the muddleness of philosophers who deny our most fundamental intuitions and deny that man is by nature social and only comes together for security against the strong, or who confuse a collective with a common good and define man as a worker instead of a rational animal.

So many pathologies of our day come from the bad seed planted a few centuries ago.

Well, with that, go plant a tree!

Plant it on your child's birthday, at the death of a loved one, or better yet as a witness that you are a part of the common good and your services help make it thrive. You are part of the solution. Plant a tree and let its beauty and fruit enhance your life, those around you and for those who follow in your footsteps.

Have a great day,
David A. Cools

That Elusive Happiness

I hurried up the front porch after work and I espied my two year old boy with a huge smile looking out the front window eagerly awaiting my arrival. I made faces and teased him through the window until he was all tied up in knots giggling and wiggling in delight. As I entered in the door he threw himself back in feigned embarrassment and promptly toppled onto the floor. Off the chair, on his head. He howled and cried his indignation until I picked him up. From happiness to tears in a split second.

 Not unusual for happiness I suppose. Happiness seems so elusive.

Man pursues so many different things as happiness. Money for example.  By work and hook or sometimes crook, he pursues the mythical amount where he thinks he might just have enough. For what? Not often even sure of that. Than he loses his health, and he begrudgingly but readily spends  all on doctors to get well. Happiness now seems to be in health, not wealth, as he is ready to give up his wealth for health. But as soon as health returns he forgets that, and either pursues money again or some other pleasure, or perhaps power, fame or the like.

If we go through all the things that most pursue as happiness, but are always disillusioned in when achieved, we start to see what the trouble is.

Seems they all lack at least two major qualities. Total fulfillment and permanence.
Another way of saying this is that there seems to be two things that make us unhappy.

1) unruly appetites
2) unfulfilled desire

We just can't seem to rule our desires very well. Sleeping in and missing some responsibility, resolutely trying for patience but losing a friendship when failing, some drinking to excess and ruining all that he holds dear.

Reminds me of St. Paul when he says that he does that which he doesn't want, and doesn't do what he wants.
A war within his own members leading to all disquiet.

And then even if we get what we desire, it either doesn't fill us up, or as soon as that appetite is satiated we are on to the next.

A hot tub that one just can't wait to get into when cold. Its hot and oh so good. But the longer your in it, the pleasure subsides so you must turn the heat up. Sort of like boiling the proverbial frog, you hope you escape just short of being a fully boiled lobster. Yes, the fleeting nature of satisfaction.

Well, what can we make of this? This. Whatever is going to make us happy must be completely fulfilling and must be never ending. When obtained, no desire for another good would be entertained, and there would be no apprehension that it could be lost, that could make the grasp of it uneasy, and rob it of its full delight. Uh, oh,

Whats this? Its the dinner bell ringing and the muse fleeing. A grass fattened steak from my brothers place and all the sundry foods playing a supporting role round about, along with fresh squeezed (so to speak) goat milk obtained from the walking grazing milk bottle awaits the pleasure of the palate. Happiness, or nearly so! but I fear the word nearly is the operative word here. We'll give it the utmost go though. The little one is happy now and ensconced in his high chair. Until the fat is chewed,

Have a great day!
David A. Cools