What is the meaning of the willow tree of life?
It's a symbol of fertility and new life, a willow branch can be planted in the ground and from it, a new tree will grow in its place. Its ability to grow and survive is powerfully symbolic and show how we can thrive even in challenging conditions.
The Willow is associated with the Moon and the water element. Personally, I love to include it in any rituals connected with the Moon, releasing stuck emotions, old energy, welcoming the new, connecting with our intuition, welcoming Spring, emotional healing and lifting the spirits of the broken hearted.
I am beginning to see the strength that the Willow reflects about the human spirit. This tree is also culturally associated with grief in Western countries. There is the added symbolism of immortality and life after death, which can be found in people hold for the one(s) who have passed.
Like The Book of Psalms speaks often about sitting beneath the Willows, to mourn, and also to rejoice. There is strength in mourning what was, and it takes courage to rejoice and stand in faith as to what the promises of God states in His Word.
Today, I choose to place the focus on the strength of the Willow Tree. The roots of this tree are thirsty, and they quench the cool waters in order to grow stronger. The branches of this tree can be placed in the ground, and it will grow without the need of a seed. This does require much watering in order for the tiny branch to sprout new roots. It amazes me to think about this concepts in today's world.
The world has witnessed so much trauma, death, uncertainty, and division since 2015 through 2024. Like many of you who may be reading this, our prayers have gone up regarding so much injustice recently, we can no longer wrap our minds around what is happening. We see evil being called good, and good called evil.
It literally appalls my thoughts and my heart grieves to know that certain media journalists, and news get paid a lot of money to simply report hatred. What saddens me the most is to have to witness those I love and care for believe it, and in the end, their hearts become full of hatred and bitterness.
Yet, the weeping willow again, represents the tears we may have cried out to the Lord, asking, "Where are you"? Only to hear silence. Our warring spirits to fight the good fight, and pray for righteousness, seem to fall on deaf ears. Or have they?
Recently, we have seen a lot of darkness exposed by His Light. Human trafficking, smuggling of phytanoyl that have killed and addicted millions of people, homelessness, and the hate among humans for their differences in what they believe. We have witnessed on the news media people who have spoken outwardly about killing an individual they seem to hate, but when asked, why they hate so much, they really cannot explain it.
Personally, I have chosen to simply turn off the news, and limit my time on all social media platforms. The assassination attempt lured me back for a bit, I will admit. But then I began to see even more division, hatred, and misleading information, so I chose to hit the power off button and write.
No, I am not one to throw my opinions about what is happening around our world today, yet it saddens me to witness it. Most of the time, anger is based in fear. Yet the Bible teaches us another aspect of anger, and it is referred to as righteous anger. Let us be careful to discern which is which.
An example would be much like when we were finishing our meal at a local barbeque restaurant when the news of the attempted assassination came out. The owner of the restaurant looked at us as we were leaving and said, "I am locked and loaded. I am ready, and so is my wife. She has a dead-eye aim when it comes to hitting the target." That was his fear talking.
As we got in our car to head home, we talked about his fear, and how divided our country is at this time. We questioned why one man was so hated, that he would endure so much false accusations, labels, tried in court for thirty charges only to have the charges thrown out, and yet so many have believed the lies. Now his life was threatened, and he still fights for righteousness. It puzzled us and asked ourselves what can we do?
We talked about writing some of the news channels and asking them to stop paying for hate news, and stick to the known facts, and leaving their opinions out of what the facts state like they used to do. Will it do any good? Maybe, maybe not. This kind of reporting, when we hear members of our political realm stated things like we need civil uprisings all over, we need to stop this man, even if it means death, and we hear actors who are merely paid to read someone else's words, and entertain us on screen, make the same kind of threats. They threaten to leave America if this man is elected, yet they remain here spewing out more hatred.
This alone should open our blind eyes and realize we are not dealing with merely flesh and blood, but principalities. Darkness is all around us and the lines are being drawn. Is this division our legacy? How do we come back and become united? Where does our hope truly come from? How long will we tolerate fear mongering and remain silent? How do we keep peace when the world around us is in some sort of raging political battle? Not to mention the confusion about right and wrong, who is male and female, and full term abortions being passed, when at the same time, if a pregnant woman who is with child is murdered, it is considered a double homicide.
We have come to the end of ourselves. My only hope is in God at this point. You can choose where your hope comes from. Personally, I am feeling powerless at the moment, not really knowing what I alone can do, if anything. I don't have any answers at the moment, yet I am reminded of the Weeping Willow.
I am thirsty for righteousness to prevail, I shed tears for humanity, I grieve with all who feel the sadness of the world around us in today's timeline. Yet, the roots run deep, and give me strength to endure somehow. My branches sweep the ground as if to brush away the defeat our world seems to be heading towards. I feel resilient, strong, courageous, and determined to stand for what is righteous in the eyes of my Creator. I do not wish nor desire to go along with the hatred that is on our television, and I stand for the lives of the unborn. They cannot defend themselves.
So I will end today's thoughts and ask you the same question I have searched my own heart and ask, What do you stand for? No judgement on my part, and I ask the same from you today. No judgements towards me. Let's leave judgement to the Lord.
We are all in the midst of processing the world around us. A world we hardly recognize today. If you are still reading, just know that we were born for such a time as this. We all need to sit down and look at our inner fear. Once we do, maybe, just maybe we can become the change that we all would like to see, live and pass on to the next generation.
Until then, sit beneath the shade of the Weeping Willow and listen as the breeze gracefully blows through its leaves, you may even hear a song that only nature can produce. Look at it closely, and take in the sunbeams as they dance through it and be in awestruck wonder of its strength and beauty. The Weeping Willow is the perfect example of where our grief can take us. Our tears are the water it seeks to stay nourished and healthy. It reminds us to rest, and maybe even provide some shade for others who cross our path, who are tired, hot and thirsty from life.
Be a blessing today if you feel led, and have the strength. If not, seek out someone you trust, and ask for the shade of their faith to cover you until you can stand on your own again. My wish for all of us is that we find rest, seek peace, build our faith and know without a doubt that love is the answer.
Until next time,
Kim
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