Friday, 20 February 2009

• My Boys - Part 2 (actually, the former)

  The Sapling
  
  Glistening in the sunlight he stands
  Tall and straight and slender
  Soaking up the nutrients from the good earth and the sun
  Stretching ever taller, higher
  Spreading his branches to encompass an ever-widening circle
  Promise of strength
  Protection and sustenance to all that shelter beneath him
  Preparing to drop his seeds to the earth
  And see them blossom into young saplings as well
  The promise of a mighty forest in this single slender stalk
  The wealth and wisdom of generations contained in this thin trunk
  Waiting to be nurtured and revealed
  Waiting to nurture and reveal to untold numbers
  The beauty, the value, the worth concealed within
  Within us all
  
  It would not do him justice to try to describe Lane by his attitudes, daily activities, or crazy boyish shenanigans (make no mistake, he has plenty of those!).  He's so much more.  The words "deep" and "complex" come to mind, but they conjure a brooding, unhappy boy, which could not be a more inept description of him.  He's quiet - not sullen, but peaceful.  He's intelligent, but thoughtful.  Rare things in a young man of 11.  He's very deliberate, meticulous.  My family says that he's just like my great-grandfather, Doyle.  He would sit - actually squat on his heels, like only the old-timers could do - for hours on end just thinking.  Then, when he'd reached a decision, he acted.  He never gave the impression of moving quickly or being in a hurry, but he got things done amazingly fast - and well.  He worked harder, and longer than any man I've ever known.  He was not a big man - 5'7", maybe 5'8" - and never more than 170 lbs. - but somehow he could do things that much larger, apparently stronger men could not.  He could accomplish things that men who seemed to have every advantage over him could not.  His formal education stopped around the eighth grade, yet he was an innovative businessman.  He was essential in the bringing of electric services to areas of rural Arkansas.  He spent his most productive years carving prosperous farms from wilderness, thickets and briers so that he could give them as an inheritance to his children.  He was a respected elder in his community and church.  He had an unassailable grasp of matters spiritual, Scriptural and theological.  He would spend hours debating and discussing intricate points of doctrine with men seeming to be far his superior in learning and education.
  
  There is a teaching amongst the Jews that at any given point in time, there are 39 Hidden Tzaddikim (righteous men) for whose sake the Lord stays His hand and does not bring about the destruction of the world - much as He agreed to do, at Abraham's urging, to the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.  The Tzaddikim are unknown to those around them, and live their lives in relative anonymity.  I am certain that my Papa was one of them.  I see so much of him in Lane.  He even squats on his heels the same way.  It's a posture that's terribly uncomfortable to all but the most lanky and limber people.  I've never seen anyone but old farmers do it.  I think it's an adaptation brought about by the occasional need to sit down, and the lack of any place free of cow pies to do so.  In any case, Lane does it.  He's an old soul - not worn out or obsolete - but ancient and to be treasured.  I find myself praying more often and with more fervor for his future spouse than for any of my other children's.  I desire very deeply for him to find a mate who will treasure and nurture all the strength and wisdom within him, and have the wisdom herself not to squelch the kindness and compassion that are necessary to make such wisdom bearable.  His compassion overrides all his other emotions, sometimes even to his detriment.  He's still learning to temper compassion with judgment, judgment with compassion.  It's a case that requires a great deal of wisdom - and I believe he will possess that in great measure in time as well.
  
  I love all of my children best, in their own way, for their unique personalities.  This morning, looking out my kitchen window, seeing him standing there beside that sapling in the yard, echoing its shape, its potential, emphasizing everything about it that is most beautiful and inspiring - I love him best.
  
  

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