My Trees from the Forest Realization

I grew up in a logging community where TIMBER MANAGEMENT was what we did. You know, literal trees from the literal forest stuff. I am in fact as the son of professional logger Walter Larson I have ‘whacked’ with a chainsaw many a tree for the 'Log'father just like Luca Brazzi did hits for the Godfather. 

In contrast those environmentalists we loggers affectionately called ‘tree huggers’ did not see trees as a renewable resource but rather as.. people! And … the words CLEAR CUT made them imagine a mass killing by those unshaven, donning flannel shirts and stocking caps working for organized crime (against nature) timber companies. So in summary.. loggers see the big picture… TREES are the renewable resource in the collective called a FOREST.

---

Years later I found myself working in a Corporate work setting as a programmer analyst where I was once told by a Lead Consultant .. that the problem between the two of us was .. I was a linear thinker while she was a parallel thinker. You know.. she could see the FOREST (project big picture) while my linear brain could only see the TREES (a simple line of code on my computer). 

But.. even a slow ‘linear’ thinker like me knew I was being insulted. And.. though I would like to have left her tied to a TREE in a distant FOREST.. I deflected her comments with a few carefully chosen words and did not take her bait to escalate conflict. 

Now fast forward another 13+ years to my present day ‘simpler’ life of Crayons and Stripped Shirts. 

---

While this sounds like I am in prison for being a graffiti artist .. many of you know crayons are my code word for cartooning, and stripped shirts are the fashion statement of choice for my alter-ego of sports official/ref/ump extradinaire! 

The problem is though I am no longer logging a tree in a forest like I was 30+ years ago in Wisconsin, and I no longer struggle as linear ‘like a tree’ thinking programmer in a forest of corporate suits, I am NOW BUSIER than I know what to do, and unable to distinguish the TREES (today) from the FOREST (the future). 

So.. I resolve to embrace my dependence on God with faith, hard work, prayer, laughing loud, because as creator God definitely sees the trees from the forest, and the forest from the trees. aka Spiritual Timber Management.

May God bless and use each of you whether your name is Albert Einstein Jr., or Mr. Obama. Whether you are a CEO, CPA, M-O-M, D-A-D, or a R-E-F like M-E.. exhale and realize God is in control, and that’s the best place to be. Love God with all our hearts, soul, and minds, and others as ourselves.. the rest is .. trees from the forest stuff.

Jeff

---

Safety Note: I stopped chewing gum while typing this email to focus my 'linear' thinking mind so I would not strain-a-brain synapse.

---