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Old Oak Tree Show Me Your Strength and I’ll Show You My Courage


A few weeks ago, I decided to visit the old Angel Oak Tree on John’s Island and I found her just south of Charleston, South Carolina. To get to her, I eventually had to travel down the roughest dirt road I’ve ever been on. The road is unpaved and is filled with potholes, I swear a mile deep each. The journey to visit with Angel Oak is well worth it though. She’s estimated to be over 1,400 years old, one of the oldest organisms around and is the type of creature to have withstood the test of time. She’s weathered lightening strikes, and hurricanes, and yes even nearby earthquakes. She’s 65 feet tall and 25 feet and a half round. Her branches extend outward to welcome visitors and are so heavy and thick that some of them rest easily on the ground. She’s strong and her roots run deep. She symbolizes the children whom she greets everyday with open arms during park visiting hours. She represents Mother Earth and her love that will forever endure the test of time. She is a sight to see and a beauty to behold. She is the journey that is mine and yours and the victory over the storms that we face each and every day. Life can be uncertain at times, but at the end of the day our spirit remains. We are strong human beings and stronger more when we stand together as one.

Many of us are searching for our ancestral roots right now. Some of us have been searching through old census records for quite some time. Others may have been intrigued by the recent airing of Faces of America narrated by Henry Louis Gates on PBS and are taking a special interest in the possibilities of DNA testing. What will we find when we start digging deep and what does it matter at all to find blood relatives from all four corners of the world? Does knowing about those who have come before us really make us who we are today? And does anyone care about Mother Eve, the mother of us all who walked hand in hand with Mother Earth and gave birth to a race, the Human Race, of great people on the eastern shores of Africa. From Mother Eve, man took his first steps towards adventure and possibilities with woman by his side. Together we said goodbye to our birth right and conquered the world. But not Mother Earth and that is a good thing because she is the womb from where Eve sprung forth. Of the earth, I imagine Eve to have been a petite brown skinned creature with dark curly hair. She probably laughed a lot and enjoyed all the fruits and delights within her reach. She was insightful and intuitive and knew that most of her children would leave her to build great nations. She gave birth to children with fair light almost white skin and deep brown and black skin. She loved us, she loved us all and she let us go. She planted her feet on the grounded and extended her arms and sent us out on our way with her blessing.

Mother Eve knew that we would find our way back to her and each other one day. When you take a journey to the ancient Angel Tree, it’s like you are returning home to a place that you’ve known before. And the spirit of Mother Eve has journeyed across the stormy seas to see you again with open and extended arms to take you in her strong embrace so that you may go out into the world and continue to stand tall. Or she’s here to remind you that once before we were all tree people and were once as one with Mother Nature. Maybe James Cameron visualized it best in the epic film, Avatar. My heart broke when we humans used our big guns and machines to seek out and destroy Home Tree. Because although I was witnessing a great visual of science fiction, the reality of the story line is that we often do destroy what the earth has given us and that is what we do best.

When Eve sent us out to populate the world, I can’t imagine that in her wildest nightmares could she see what we would do with our greatest gifts. Even today as I type these words, our resilient ancient oak tree is in danger from local developers. And there is a battle brewing between those who want to protect and cherish her and those that want to build around her. Hopefully greed will not win in the end. It’s led us down some stormy paths, but as people from all around the world find themselves getting down to basics, maybe we’ll be strong enough to move past our own selfish ways, and find the courage to make good decisions and to know the difference between right and wrong. To embrace our brothers and sisters from all around the world and walk hand in hand toward the journey of the light and to lift each other up toward the sunshine of the earth. Just take a look at the old Angel Oak Tree. Her limbs are long and her roots are strong. She’s planted firmly on the ground. And just like me and just like you, she’s standing, and she’s conquering those storms through and through. Majestically, I am the Angel Oak tree and so are you.

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