Page 18 January 14, 2024 StarNews www.starnewsgaonline.com
Commentary
You live in the woods - trees fall on you
Sybil
ROSEN
THOMAS
River Rambles
syllabil17@aol.com
At first, I think the tree is imploding. The
snag stood in the floodplain about 50 feet from
the cabin. I’d been watching it for a very long
time: extremely tall with a straight thick trunk
topped by a candelabra of bare branches. A tree
so long dead there were no leaves to identify it,
and all its bark lay on the ground in a puddle of
melted cellulose. For years I had begged it,
“Please, when you fall, could you fall towards
the river away from the house?” Apparently, it
had other plans.
At my desk by the window facing the water,
I hear a sharp crack that seems to come from
right outside the glass. Those of you who live
beside trees - that’s most of us in Carroll
County - know that snap, the ominous foretell
that precedes treetall. Instinctively, with a con
cerning lack of self-preservation, I turn toward
the sound. The trunk has broken off about three
feet from the ground and what I originally
thought was implosion is actually the huge
bole bouncing several times before heading
toward the house - and me.
The rest is literally a blur. Shearing off sev
eral limbs of a slim hornbeam, the dead tree
A new year, a new you
slams into the fiberglass porch-awning.
Fortunately, it’s so dead, the trunk breaks
instead of the house. The branches fall onto the
roof where they remain to this day, while the
falling trunk tears off edges of fiberglass and
porch floor before hitting the ground with a
ferocious kaboom! The end of the shattered
tree lies under the house as the ripped-off
branches of that innocent hornbeam sweep up
against the porch railing and stay there, con
ceivably as dazed as myself.
And then it is over. Quiet descends. It hap
pened so fast I can hardly breathe. In the living
room, the dog prances with jitters expressed for
us both. Not until the next day did I realize that
my desk was covered in what I can only call
tree detritus: tiny particles of trunk propelled
through cracks in the walls and gaps around the
window, the only barriers separating us from
catastrophe.
Despite this bizarre phenomenon, the cabin
sustained relatively little damage. I guess the
saying “The deader the better” is as apt for fal
ling trees as it is for vultures’ diets.
“You live in the woods, trees fall on you.”
My late husband Glyn was fond of quoting that
comforting little homily, especially when sur
veying the trees in the floodplain. To which I
would predictably reply, “Could you please
stop saying that?” As a writer, I can’t be
blamed for believing that words have power,
and intention.
But, of course, he was right. I want to know
what happens in that moment when a tree can
no longer stand up on its own. What’s the tip
Millennials Christian
Ministry (MCM)
Out with the old and in with the new.
2024 is a new year... a new you.
Give your every burden to Jesus Christ.
He loves you. He bled and died for you to
live a stress-free life.
So, put your past behind you.
You can move forward by looking back.
You have a bright future if you hearken
Tracey
PITTS
to God. He will surely keep you on track.
Just keep going, and don’t look back.
Don’t look back.
Forgive those who have offended
and betrayed you.
Remember that this is a new year...
a new you.
Watch the words that proceed
out of your mouth both night and day.
The adversary of your soul wants you to
use negative, harsh, and heartless words.
So be very careful of what you say.
There will be things that transpire
and things that will get on your nerves.
Pray, fast, and study God’s precious word.
Love God, love others, and for Him
will you faithfully serve.
A new year... a new you.
January is “Sanctity of Life” month
Diane
hack
West Georgia Right to Life
PRESIDENT
“The Heartbeat of Georgia”
Duanehack46@gmail.com
470-370-2452
Sanctity: “the state of quality of being holy,
sacred and pure.”
January has been designated as “Sanctity of
Life” month throughout the nation and Sunday
January 21st, 2024, is “Sanctity of Life
Sunday”, where numerous churches across the
country use this day to deliver prolife mes
sages. and sermons to their respective congre
gations. West Georgia Right to Life still has
dates open in January, to be a resource and
assist in delivering an educational, enlightening
and engaging Life message to your congrega
tions, either through a Sunday school lesson,
morning or evening service, or a mid-week
service. Feel free to reach out and let us know
how we can be of further assistance to you and
your church!
What’s the definition of the sanctity of life?
The Sanctity of Life is a belief that human life
carries intrinsic value, from conception to that
of natural death. Sanctity of Life is a principle
of implied protection regarding aspects of life
that are said to be Holy, Sacred and of value.
This belief stems from the very beginning of
creation when we see how God created Adam
and Eve, the first man and woman:
“So God created man in his own image, in
the image of God he created him; male and
female created he them.” Gen 1:27 KJV
“Before I formed thee in the belly, I knew
thee; and before thou earnest forth out of the
womb, I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a
prophet unto the nations.” Jeremiah 1:5 KJV
As humans made in the image of God, we
are imprinted with the sanctity of life simply by
the Creator of Life creating us in His image.
We see in other areas of the Bible, God’s Word
to us, how the image of God in our lives as
ping point (pun intended)? It mystifies me
every time. What makes the trunk hold up in
one moment and in the next collapse? Is it a
small shift of earth or wind, the pull of gravity,
or some othger nameless thing - a letting go, a
giving up, the willingness to get on with the
inevitable transformation into soil?
This wasn’t the first tree-induced terror I’d
experienced here. Once, during a fierce thun
derstorm, we heard that heart-stopping crack
and knew immediately it was the enormous pin
oak leaning over the kitchen where we were
eating. There followed that horrifying whirring
noise that usually comes in cartoons before the
cry “Timber!” We were certain the oak was
going to fall on us. Crouching together for
impact, we stared into each other’s eyes for
what might be the last time. And then -
nothing.
Naturally, we were grateful, but perplexed.
After the storm, we went out to look. A
tremendous branch had broken off and would
have smashed through the roof except that it
was miraculously caught and held by lower
branches, dangling helplessly about three feet
above the shingles - like an arrow frozen in
mid-air mere inches from its bullseye.
The floodplain is a dynamic, changeable
place, littered with fallen trees. Legally, a
floodplain cannot be logged-out, so the trees
that grow there can get to be very old and large.
Awed by the height and girth of the giant syca
mores (known as widowmakers for obvious
reasons) and the sweetgums in our surrounding
swampland, I worry about them, too. Subjected
Give to the less-fortunate and make
sure that every endeavor is done in love
in all that you do.
Prophecies are being fulfilled each
and every day.
Develop a deeper relationship with
Jesus that’s all that this Christian poet
is trying to convey.
A new year.. .a new you, put
ALL of your trust in the Savior,
the only one that is pure, faithful and true.
Many lost a lot in 2023. Some lost
family members, jobs, homes, sleep,
and so much more.
Put all of your cares to Jesus,
and watch your faith in Him grow in 2024.
Albert Einstein once said,
“Insanity is doing the same thing over
humans shows our innate worth to our Creator.
King David wrote:
“I praise thee, for I am fearfully and wonder
fully made. Marvelous are thy works; and that
my soul knoweth right well” Psalms 139:14
KJV
The incredible miracles of life from concep
tion to a baby’s birth to the body’s ability to
heal after injury or surgery, and even the fragile
parting of death show there is a sacredness in
living this life. Life is tmly a gift, so then what
is our responsibility as we consider this issue?
How does the sanctity of life ethic speak to
the issue of abortion? The sanctity of life ethic
tells us that no one has the right to take an inno
cent human life - including that of a prebom
child. The writer of Proverbs encourages the
reader to:
“Open thy mouth for the dumb in the cause
of all such as are appointed to destruction”
Prov. 31:8 KJV
We cannot be silent as abortion has harmful
effects on women, men and ends the life of a
developing baby. As biblical-based Christian
to flood after flood, their roots continually satu
rated, their fiber can weaken, affecting the abil
ity to stay upright. Yet, I also can’t help wonder
if all that root-watering might not be contribut
ing to their impressive size?
Echoing Glyn’s dire prediction, I did have a
tree fall directly on my head a few years ago.
Seriously. Rather inconveniently the accident
occurred the afternoon of the opening night of
“The Belle of Amherst” at the Whitesburg
Public Library, the one-woman show by
William Luce I was scheduled to perform as a
fundraiser for the library. I was walking
through the woods with a friend, when he
scrambled up a boulder, putting his foot on a
leaning tree to give himself some heft.
The tree was deader than he knew and fell
towards me under his weight. I saw it coming
as if in slow-motion, a medium-size brown
shaft landing squarely on my skull before
bouncing off' to the ground. Again, because the
tree was dead, I was not. The brittle trunk was
mercifully light.
Curious, the things you think about in
moments like these. My first observation was
that I didn’t see stars, which I took as a positive
sign. Secondly, I hoped that whatever brain
injury I might sustain, it wouldn’t cause all the
lines of the hour-long play to vanish from my
memory.
Stumbling home, I balanced an ice pack on
my head. Then we filled up the car with the
costume and set, and took off' for the library.
Trees may fall on you but the show must go
on.
and over and expecting different results.”
Come on, people of God, let that not be us.
We must leave the bad habits, thoughts,
and deeds...
We must. We must. We must.
A new year... a new you -
forgetting those things that are behind
and focusing on what’s ahead.
Forget the past!
Forget the past! Did you hear what I’ve
said?
A new year... a new you...
2024 will be a great year filled
with God’s love, mercy, and great grace.
Make your mark for Jesus in the lives
of others... ones that can never be erased.
Remember- it’s a new year... a new you.
prolife individuals and leaders, we must “stand
and be a voice for those who have no voice, the
prebom and the aged.”
2024 Session: State of Georgia Pro-life
Legislation. GRTL and WGRTL will again be
presenting two prolife bills in the 2024
Legislative session, which would move to end
abortion in Georgia once and for all!
HB 496 Georgia Prenatal Protection Act
HB 413 Personhood Resolution-Amendment
to Georgia Constitution
Both of these bills will be going into House
committee hearings, where they will be
reviewed and discussed with possibilities to
move forward to a House legislative vote. The
2024 Georgia Legislation session starts January
9th, so time will be of the essence to present
our Prolife convictions and requests to our
respective House and Senate representatives.
More defined action plans on how we can
make Georgia a “true prolife state” will be
forthcoming from GRTL and WGRTL!
Blessed, safe and prosperous new year to
you and yours!
