Growing Around Your Scars

An acquaintance of mine from Grace Clinic began an e-newsletter article with this. I thought it worthy of passing along:

"Take a good look at this picture. It is of an Aspen tree I came across during a hike in Rocky Mountain National Park this summer. While my friend and I were taking a break from the ascent, I was looking at all the initials carved into the trunk when I noticed this fascinating work of nature. Unlike other types of trees I've seen with initials carved into them, the Aspen does something wonderful with the nicks and carvings etched into its life: it grows around them. Some initials are dark and clearly cut into the face of the tree, while others are bubbled and white. After time, it seems, the Aspen makes its scars a part of who it is in such a way that its beauty and the new markings are still there but reshaped to give the tree a unique identity. As I stood in front of this Aspen, it reminded me of a well-lived life: full of marks that change the face of it forever, but full of life that grows around the marks so that they become a beautiful part of its story."