Snarled Oak

The moss and lichen covered branches of this oak tree snarled into a twisted array of muted earth tones have a haunting presence that conjure up feelings of confusion and bewilderment. Yet a tree, with its many branches signifies nothing other than the remedy of those feelings, that remedy being knowledge. Each branch indicates a different science, art or skill that ‘branches’ off a stronger and more prominent branch. Tracing each branch back leads us to the trunk, the source of every knowledge, and the basis of knowledge itself, which then vanishes beneath the surface of the earth where the very roots of that tree nourish its many spreading branches from the unseen. It is through knowledge that we are able to navigate through life, to excel, and to rise above the lowly state of ignorance. And like the tree, whose source of nourishment is from the unseen, our knowledge comes from a Source that too is unseen, whose origin predates even time itself.