The Oak Tree
Pine trees in a forest are beautiful; tall and strong, reaching ever upward, standing close together, casting shade together, insomuch that the whole of the forest floor is cool and close. On the other hand, consider the lone oak standing on a hill; appearing gnarled and crooked against the sky, hot beneath the blazing sun. The roots of the mighty pines are intertwined, you know...if any one of those majestics were separated, and transplanted, it would fall. The roots are shallow in comparison to the height of the tree. The first big wind would topple it. The oak, on the other hand, has been growing in that singularly lonely place atop the hill from the moment the acorn was deposited in the soil. It has grown crooked, without support against the winds that blow, against the burning sun, the beating of rains...it has sunk its roots deep into the soil and has taken hold of the earth to support it. It has not attached to the roots of another tree for strength. It has sunk its own roots de...