I took a walk with a friend this week, among old pecan trees, and the Gospel passage our priest spoke about on Sunday came into mind. It’s a tale about Zacchaeus the tax collector, described as a short man, who climbs a tree in order to see Jesus over the crowd. (Luke 19:1-10; Jesus sees him, calls him down and stays at his house; there are additional details to the story that offer other fruitful opportunities for interpretation.)

It occurred to me that I have been up a tree (in a metaphoric sense) as an escape, and not as a place from which to see more clearly. Sitting in a removed space offers a good opportunity for rest and reflection, but life is conducted for the most part on the ground. I’ll come back down one of these days.