"The flowers appear on the earth, the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land." -- Song of Solomon 2:12
In January delicate clusters of bright pink
blossoms appeared on my neighborhood’s redbud trees. In February, Japanese
magnolias offered their sleek, lavender tulip-shaped blooms. Then March enticed
the dogwood, my favorite blooming tree, to share its creamy cross-shaped
blossoms with their distinct rust “stains” on their tips and their “crown of
thorns” in their centers. The trees’ shallow roots make them easy prey to
hurricanes here in my adopted hometown, so few have survived and not too many
folks choose to plant them. But in Birmingham, where I grew up, the tree adorned
nearly everybody’s yards.
One dogwood in particular, though, holds a
special place in my heart. It grew in our front yard beside a lovely ornamental
peach tree that bloomed at the same time as the dogwood each spring, its tiny pale
pink flowers a beautiful contrast to the dogwood’s larger white ones. When I was
about eight, every afternoon I would expertly shimmy up the lone dogwood. Its
angled trunk led to a bough that resembled an open hand with the fingers cupped
upward. It made the perfect seat for me and over the years, I spent hours
perched there, half-hidden behind my fragrant curtain of white flowers. It was
as if God had designed the hiding place just for me and with a glorious blue
sky as its backdrop and the pretty peach tree as its neighbor, the dogwood made
an ideal sanctuary.
Often, I would go there to spend time with
God, but sometimes I would simply watch the clouds go by with birdsong as my
anthem. When I was ten, we moved across town and I was sad to leave behind my
favorite tree. I was thrilled to learn there were about a half-dozen dogwoods
in the yard at our new house. While none were suitable for climbing, each
spring their showy profusion of blossoms reminded me of God’s faithfulness. His
goodness, kindness and generosity. And the many hours I had spent enjoying
fellowship with Him in my dogwood sanctuary.
