If Ever I Forget the Scripture

If ever I forget the Scripture,
I will look at a flower
And know God.
If the flower is sleeping,
I will look at a star.
If the night is cloudy,
I will look inside myself,
"There, God, you always are!"
marylee.manson armour
June 22, 2001, 3:33 p.m.



A Hemlock tree-- 279 years old

In the Adirondack mountains, a very old Hemlock tree came down in a windstorm . My husband George, with a power saw, removed a slice of the tree from its base, and in a cart, pulled the heavy piece of tree to our camp's front porch.

There, George began a long, tedious, and meticulous task, to determine the tree's age. With two small picks, (one to hold the place, one to move ahead, he began his work. He counted the rings in the base of the tree. There were two hundred seventy-nine rings.

When I pondered the height of the hemlock tree, sixty feet, and the seed from which it began. I am in awe.

The hemlock seed is about the size of a pencil point. The seed had been able to move from its small cone to the soil, escape woodland animals looking for food, begin to grow, and continue growing for almost 300 years. The seed withstood the harsh winters of the mountains, and the ever present wood cutters, too! Hemlock are said to be one of the largest trees.

I believe that the seeds of every creation, whether the seeds are those of human folk, trees, birds, or other lives, have within themselves a spiritual impetus, many call God, who brings about an unfolding of life and its preservation!
April 12,2006