the trees we plant today are tomorrows shade

​My closest running friends know I hate running in the heat. Nothing sends me searching for a tree covered path quicker than a hot August day. Then again, nothing has made me appreciate the relief of those tree covered routes more than running on a hot August day.

When I read Seth Godin's words this morning, I realized I'd never thought much about all that goes into that August relief. Most days, I run under the shade, stop, pause my watch - because time no longer counts when you're saving your life - and then I treasure that space. Treasure it like it's always been there.

But it hasn't always been there. The giant tree I'm standing beneath wasn't always a giant tree. It was once a seed - a seed that required water and sun and a lot of nutrients from the ground. It required them over and over for a long time.

I'm thinking of my faith that way this morning. My faith - and specifically heaven. There are days, many of them lately, when I imagine heaven as a place of great relief. Relief from the pain and hardships of this world.

I imagine heaven as the tree covered route I discover on a hot August day. And the Gatorade beneath that tree - well let me tell you, it's heavenly. (And it's red fruit punch by the way).

But here's what I'm wondering this morning. I'm wondering if maybe we aren't supposed to be planting some trees here on earth that will be the shade we experience in heaven. I'm wondering if the way we treat one another - what if that is the water and the sun and the nutrients of the soil that is growing shade along the gold plated highways of heaven.

What if God is saying, I've built the roads and the mansions - the least you all can do is plant some trees.

You know what sometimes gets in my way of planting trees here on earth? It's my constant search for my own shade. I think I get a little busy sometimes running around looking for a place to escape the sun - and maybe I do that as a way to escape the reality that there are so many more trees to be planted and watered and cared for.

Jesus was pretty emphatic about the way we are to treat one another. Today I'm wondering if that was his way of saying, the more shade you provide your neighbor today - the more shade you're going to discover in your forever tomorrow.

Maybe he was saying you all just focus on planting the trees - and then the shade will be there.