the oak tree

On Sunday Elder Ballard shared this poem as he was talking about keeping ourselves strong during hard times.   I really liked it (and not just because it's about a tree) and I would like to share it as well. It reminded me of this 1400 year old oak tree my family and I found in South Carolina a few years ago..the Angel Tree.

The Oak Tree

by Johnny Ray Ryder Jr.

A mighty wind blew night and day

It stole the oak tree’s leaves away

Then snapped its boughs and pulled its bark

Until the oak was tired and stark

But still the oak tree held its ground

While other trees fell all around

The weary wind gave up and spoke.

How can you still be standing Oak?

The oak tree said, I know that you

Can break each branch of mine in two

Carry every leaf away

Shake my limbs, and make me sway

But I have roots stretched in the earth

Growing stronger since my birth

You’ll never touch them, for you see

They are the deepest part of me

Until today, I wasn’t sure

Of just how much I could endure

But now I’ve found, with thanks to you

I’m stronger than I ever knew