Your character's a tree, your reputation's a shadow. This week, we're bending the rules of spiritual flexibility without breaking - because sometimes, growth looks more like a dance than standing still.
The Shadow and The Self
"Character is like a tree, and reputation is like its shadow. The shadow is what we think of it, the tree is the real thing." - Abraham Lincoln.
While your reputation can get distorted or be misunderstood by some, your character, like the tree, remains unchanging. The tree's shadow can change with the light and different angles, but it doesn't change the tree; similarly, other people's opinions about you don't define your character and worth.
Wisdom lies in understanding that your character, just like the tree, is about who you are when no one is watching, and not what others want to believe about you.
A Vision of Growth
In one of my meditations, I was shown a magnificent tree, strongly rooted, pulled to grow towards the light of the sun, flexible in its ways, and able to bend without breaking. The tree coped easily with life's storms, using them as the fuel to get ahead. The tree also recognised its dark winter side, yet it always knew to seek light and found even small pockets of light amidst the darkness of winter.
The tree represents you, a person who can acknowledge both the light and dark within themselves, recognising that the inevitable dark periods of life help us seek out the light and that the lighter times are there for you to enjoy the riches they bring.
The Wisdom of Flexibility
In spirituality, flexibility represents deep wisdom. Your strength, like the tree, comes not from rigid resistance but from knowing when to bend and sway. The meditation reminded me of Jesus's teachings—Jesus demonstrated incredible strength in showing flexibility in meeting people where they were, whether dining with tax collectors or speaking with the Samaritan woman at the well. It's about remaining firm in your core principles, being patient, understanding, and adaptable in your interactions with people.
Strength Through Faith
A fully-grown tree, such as a mature oak, symbolises continual growth in faith and further understanding. You will begin to radiate strength, yet possess a calm, gentle presence that is discernible, whilst remaining rooted in the face of a storm.
Some individuals and power structures stay rigid like brick walls in challenges and resist anything they perceive as opposition until they ultimately have to collapse. Seeing poverty, disease, viruses and depression as things to manage, control, resist, and fight against only creates more resistance. All these things we perceive to be opposing us when shone in a higher light, show us to look at the roots of the wider problems. These issues manifest as our profound teachers to illuminate the deeper problems in society and light the way forward.
The Grace of Flexibility
Flexibility does not resist. Instead, it welcomes challenges, seeing all things as opportunities to advance. Thus, flexibility arises from foundations of strength, and not weakness. The ability of a tree to bend and sway in a storm comes from its strong core and deep roots.
"Those in glass houses shouldn't throw stones" is a gentle call to examine our imperfections before we criticise others. It asks us to approach life with humility, flexibility, and grace. The measure by which we judge will ultimately be measured to ourselves. Our call is to be understanding, compassionate, and self-aware—unbreakable not through rigidity but by wisdom, flexibility, empathy, and the resilience that comes from moving through life's challenges.
A Final Reflection
"Even those who seem to appear small or humble to some can have a significant impact on others, especially in times of transition and challenge." - Lisa Precious
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