成人快手

From Rae Duke, Religion and Ethics teacher and broadcaster.
Last week I went to the beautiful Kew Gardens in London and at one point I found myself listening to a tale given by one of their guides that, though actually about the growth of trees and their interaction with soil, did have a lot to say about our human growth and navigation of life. We were filled in on what happened after the 鈥榞reat storm鈥� of October 鈥�87 when Britain awoke to some pretty serious damage. 500 million trees were destroyed across the country with Kew losing nearly 700. But one tree in particular, Turner鈥檚 Oak, provides a nugget of Wednesday Wisdom this morning.聽
Planted back in the 18th century, this guy was well loved, and worn out by all the visitors who鈥檇 found shade and shelter under his branches (yes, lets personify the tree!) So after the epic storm, Kew staff went tentatively to check out how he was doing, only to discover that he鈥檇 been granted a whole new lease of life. Having been uprooted in the gales and then thumped back down again, this special woody plant had managed to find more room, water and air for its roots; the soil, after all that compacting from human pressure above, had finally been zhuzh鈥檈d-up. As a result, the Oak grew better post storm than it ever had done in the calmer years leading up to it.
And it鈥檚 here I saw the thread of connection between the tree and us lot - because I reckon storms, though dreaded, are often the making of us. And becoming stronger when you have the right, as it were, to break down is an amazing thing indeed. Now as we head towards Easter and remember its story of resurrection, one that as former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams put it, jolts us 鈥榦ut of the rut of what is usual and predictable鈥� and into 鈥榓 new world where anything is possible鈥� - a smattering of the Turner鈥檚 Oak approach wouldn鈥檛 go amiss either; using life鈥檚 hiccups, whether great or small, as chance to re-root and seek out better connection with those people and things that emanate light and nourishment.聽
Thanks to Turner and his weathering of that 鈥榞reat storm鈥�, tree surgeons (the greatest job title of all time) have developed a whole new method for treating trees. As the American pastor, Joel Osteen once said: 鈥淭here are some things you can only learn in a storm鈥�.