MY NEIGHBOR'S MANGO TREE

My good neighbor across the street has trees in her yard... but this one stands out being so close to the fence and road. It's a lovely mango tree lush and green. And strong branches heavy with leaves and fruit.. and then some branches sticking out like wayward children. Wayward that this morning my neighbor decided to hire someone to trim off those unwanted branches. It was becoming a risk and threat to the safety of nearby neighbors being so dangerously close to the power lines hanging between light posts.

So this morning I woke up to the sound of someone fiercely hacking on wood with an axe or some sharp tool I guess. I looked out the window and there it was.. branches falling down from the sky or so it seemed. I felt sorry for the tree cos it must have hurt but on the other hand there was an apparent reason for the cutting and the bigger picture it hoped to achieve. Mother nature would understand that too.

So much like life and some people, don't you think? People who are so uncontrollably wired up inside and can't get a good hold of things thereby creating chaos within and without. People with habits and attitudes that brush across others in an abrasive and unpleasant way. People who think that the world owes them everything and live in that bubble of illusion. And many other irregularities of mind, spirit, and character.

And just like that mango tree they need to be clipped too. They need to be trimmed of faulty attitudes or behavior which serve no purpose other than make life miserable for those around them... and ultimately for self. And if they can't do it themselves to change, somebody or something or GOD might come along and put him back on track again or force the needed change to serve the better and greater good. It will hurt of course but sometimes to get to the good part one must peel off unnecessary layers to do that. Pain can be a good thing sometimes. Unwelcome but necessary. It happens to all of us.

Looking back to the activity outside my window I now see a tall handsome nicely trimmed mango tree and a happier safe neighborhood on my street. The trimming indeed served the greater and better good ---- the bigger tapestry of life on the street where I live.