Lessons in Aging from our Garden

About four years ago now a huge wind cut through our city. The result was a swath of destruction with trees torn loose and up-rooted. One of the giant trees in our yard was lost to the plough wind that day.

After the men cut down the tree down a large stump was left. They said they couldn’t (wouldn’t) remove it because of the dangers to their chain saws with possible nails in the lower extremity. So what do you do with the large stump in you possible flower garden at the edge of the driveway? Carve it - what else?

In the next months two bear heads appeared on this stump. I carved them with a little imagination and a good body grinder equipped with a special cutting wheel, some chisels and a whole lot of effort.

For the past years it has become a great conversation piece and an attraction for children (and adults) from all over our neighbourhood. People have come to have their children’s picture taken with the bears. Sudbury, Ontario has its big Nickel; Wawa, Ontario has its Big Canadian Goose – and 925 Western Ave. in Peterborough, Ontario has its two large bears.

The bears have taken on their own personage. They have their own life. However, a few problems have appeared this summer. Actually these problems have been coming each summer with a greater frequency. The bears are not healthy any more. Serious problems have risen with an attack deep within. Evidence of aging is beginning to take its toll. At first it was an interesting event. Now it is more serious.

Mushrooms are appearing with regularity. They came on the lower parts first near the ground. Later they came further up the side of the bears. They came mainly on the back where you can’t see them as easy. Then they appeared near the side and finally last summer they came on the faces of the bears. The last event of the mushroom attack happened in an area that has never had them before – right up front on the flower pot shelf.

These mushrooms grow fast. In the photos shown here – there is a time spread of one day – 24 hours only. The whole growing cycle was less than four days in total.

It all happened with two small spores from my understanding. These two small spores were deposited by an earlier mushroom in a tiny crevice on the bear’s side.

Oh yes – we have applied protection of all sorts. Each summer we have applied a new coat of protecting finish with a good UV rating. But the tiny spores are too powerful. They are unstoppable.

But the best protection cannot stop the fact that the stump is aging and the wood that makes up the bears is going to deteriorate each summer. Some day they will be gone. The inevitable will happen.

The other day we had a group arrive from Beijing. They are staying in Peterborough for a few weeks. They had seen the bears on the internet last summer. They had talked about coming to see them in person.

It was so wonderful to see the children in the group climb up to the bears and then sit with them. I think the bears actually smiled. While they are still in our yard they are blessing people just by being bears.

As I have been reflecting on this transformation of the bear carving some truths have come home for me.

I am surrounded with aging people. In the past few years I have conducted more than 50 funerals in our community. The aging process has been evident for me personally in a powerful way.

It is a sobering event to attend the funeral for a friend and acquaintance. This Friday I will attend another for a friend that is just a little older than me. This one is close to home personally.

All of us are facing our own evidence of “mushrooms growing” – just like the bears in our flower garden. Time will have its way – so will age and a body that won’t last forever.

But – and that is a big BUT… the fact is I can still keep blessing others as they sit with me. Just like the bears did this week with a new group from Beijing, China. The laughter and the giggles, the woos and aahs will still be there – as the children come to sit by me. That is my hope at least.

I want to be happy until I die. I want to be the best until I have no best left in me.

I have a promise I hang on to… it is in Psalm 91: 16 Here is the whole Psalm to consider…

Have a great day.

Psalm 91
1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust."
3 Surely he will save you from the fowler's snare and from the deadly pestilence.
4 He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
5 You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day,
6 nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday.
7 A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you.
8 You will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked.
9 If you make the Most High your dwelling— even the LORD, who is my refuge-
10 then no harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent.
11 For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways;
12 they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
13 You will tread upon the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent.
14 "Because he loves me," says the LORD, "I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
15 He will call upon me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him.
16 With long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation."