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FOREWORD AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The traditional folktale of the three trees has been a perennial message of hope and purpose for all ages. In retelling this tale through the life a simple elm tree named Jesse, it is my prayer that others might further appreciate the grandeur of their personal purpose. For when the hand of the Grand Artist touches any life – no matter how royal or simple, it becomes and remains a “piece of the Master”; a “Master-piece” that must simply wait for that noble purpose and calling.

This particular telling of the tale of the three trees is dedicated to my father, whose simple life serves as a grand example of that noble purpose and calling. And the powerful patience needed sometimes to wait… and listen… for that purpose and calling.

And loving thanks to my wife Diann, daughters Emily and Hannah, and my sons Leo and Nicholas. It is through their lives that I have experienced my noble purpose and calling, time and again.

But this was a special morning.

For the forest quietly welcomed the arrival of its newest member, a small elm sapling named Jesse.

Rooted firmly on the very edge of the forest bed, Jesse had the ideal location to see the events that occurred around him each day and to bathe in the afternoon sun. Jesse could think of no place he would rather live and grow.

The warmth and comfort of the forest life was unsurpassed by any other existence. Sunrises spilled into mornings and days passed. And Jesse grew.

He grew skyward in the company and protection of his parents and friends. And as his branches and leaves expanded, so did his dreams. From his location in the forest glen, he was able to see the world outside of the forest – the world of humans. And Jesse wondered…

“What will become of me?” he would question his parents, “Will I be harvested as others to serve a great purpose? Will the humans come for me?”

His mother would remind him, “You will become what you were destined to be, Jesse. But you must be patient and wait for your turn. We must all wait for our turn here in the forest.”

Jesse continued to dream of that purpose.

Jesse would spend the mornings dreaming of the exciting adventures that awaited him in the human world and enjoying the afternoons in conversation with his friends.

“I know that I’m destined for greatness as my wood is the sweetest and finest grain of all trees,” boldly stated Jonathan, a cherry wood of small stature. “I will become the finest table and chairs from which human royalty shall feast.”

Michael, an oak tree and the largest of the forest glen joined in, “I can see my future upon the open sea. From my trunk to my branches, I will provide the sturdiest lumber in which people will discover new and grand worlds. On me, they will build new and mighty frontiers.”

The voice of Emily, a soft-spoken maple, was heard from the great shadow of Michael, “The soft and supple texture of my wood shall be harvested to cradle the gentlest of the humans. It shall nestle the very beings that will someday dine from Jonathan’s table and sail upon Michael’s planks to worlds unknown.”

“What will become of you, Jonah?” Jesse asked. Reflecting on the others’ dreams, Jonah simply replied, “From the richness of my pine shall be crafted coaches and carriages which shall deliver these humans to their desired destinations. I shall make their journey easy and sure.”

One by one, each young tree in the glen shared their dream with the group until only Jesse remained. The forest silenced itself as all attention turned to Jesse.

“I am not exactly sure of what I will become,” he said humbly, “but I have had dreams of the same exciting adventures as you. I have dreamt of myself as fine furnishings and great ships; of cradles and carriages. But in my dreams, there is more to which I feel I’m being called. I feel it beckoning me from the world of humans. But for now, I will wait here, in the forest, for my turn.”

Sunrises and seasons continued to pass as Jonathan, Michael, Emil, Jonah and Jesse grew to great stature. Although a blessing to some, living on the very edge of the forest glen can be dangerous to a growing tree.

One summer brought a drought that devastated many trees in the glen. Jesse’s wood was left dry and rough from that drought. Likewise an unfortunate storm that entered the forest in an early spring left Jesse knotty and scarred by lightning. The insects of the forest were also relentless and left his grain less than desirable.

Despite these hardships and their effects, Jesse remained proud and promising for his turn to come.

One cloudy autumn day, the time had arrived when Jesse’s parents had reached full maturity and the humans came to claim them. Having not contemplated the eventual separation from his parents, their journey from the forest disturbed Jesse.

The night before their departure with the humans, Jesse’s parents comforted him with one thought. “It is our time and we have prepared ourselves for this moment. We must go, Jesse,” stated his father, “but remember that one’s purpose is always noble if it is the one to which he is called.”

Silence entered the forest glen the next morning as the humans left and Jesse’s parents began their adventure.

Although saddened by his parents’ departure, Jesse was excited as he was sure his turn would come shortly and he would be prepared to fulfill his purpose. For he knew that all life, including forest life, must journey if growth was to occur. And he would be ready.

Like his parents, one by one, Jesse’s friends were also invited to their purpose and they left the forest to embark upon their adventure. Word returned to the forest that Jonathan was now serving as an altar within a holy temple, while Michael reemerged as the grand sailing vessel he had foreseen.

Emily not only gave herself to serve as a crib for the newborn humans, but she was also transformed into various entrances that warmly welcomed travelers into one’s hearth. Jonah eventually became the very carriage he sought and transported dignitaries to their daily functions.

As late summer neared, the trees in the neighboring forest bed were also harvested and called, while Jesse could only remain on the very edge of the glen and watch… and wait. Jesse, the rough dry knotty elm remained.

It came to pass that an elderly human approached Jesse in the spring following his friends’ departure from the forest. He told the other humans, “It is not much, but this one will have to do.” And unceremoniously, Jesse was harvested and placed on the cart that would transport him and his dreams to his adventure and purpose outside the forest glen.

Jesse left the forest as quietly as he had entered it.

Because of the quality of his wood, the humans decided that Jesse was to become the very walls of a stable that would house animals. He was transformed into the individual planks and posts that would shelter and protect these animals from the very forces that left him knotty and rough.

Jesse lamented and thought to himself, “This is not the dream that Emily and I shared, and now I must live out my purpose and years in this lowly place.”

Years passed and Jesse stood firm. While he learned to be proud of his lowly purpose, he gradually gave up his divine dreams of glory and grand purpose.

With the years, came change. The animals were sold, the farmland was laid barren and the stable was no longer needed. Jesse was dismantled and sold at a modest price to a few stray humans who changed his lowly presence so that they might sail the waters.

But unlike Michael’s grand dream, Jesse would serve only as a boat for a band of vagrant fishermen. And Jesse sorrow only increased. “I will never serve as a vehicle for humans to discover new worlds.”

Bleached by the constant sun and rotted by the salty ocean water, Jesse was left one day on the shore as refuse.

He was eventually discovered by a few wandering humans who exclaimed, “This is not quality wood by any means but it will do for our purpose.” He was taken from the shore and once again transformed. Jesse began his service as the flatbed of an oxen cart. And Jesse’s spirit was weighted even more.

“Jonah shall transport royalty while I am forced to transport grain - or worse, manure – for the rest of my existence,” resigned Jesse. He would never see his dream of delivering humans to their desired destinations.

The seasons continued to pass and Jesse faced each day with a new determination toward his lowly purpose. Although he did not fully understand why he was eventually called to this purpose, he would remain faithful to this adventure.

Finally, weathered by years and devastated by unfilled dreams, Jesse was eventually abandoned for waste lumber in a deserted alley of the city of humans. From his new location and lowly stature, he finally resigned himself to completing his so-called noble purpose and began to passively watch the world of humans continue around him…

The years caused Jesse’s wood to further splinter and dry, leaving him undesirable for any purpose.

And then, it happened one gray and dreary afternoon. The humans gathered in the city for their annual ceremonies. And it was one of these ceremonies that brought a crowd of humans to the very street which was adjacent to Jesse’s alley. The sounds of human shouting and cheering were familiar to Jesse, but these shouts and cheers were different. They were angry shouts and violent cheering.

A handful of humans broke from the crowd and entered the alley, as if searching for something in particular. They saw what was left of Jesse leaning against a wall; a splintered, dried and decayed crossbeam.

Observing the rough texture, the humans shouted with satisfaction, “This is not quality wood by any means and it will do for our purpose!”

Seizing Jesse, the humans entered into the street and it was then that Jesse saw him.

It was a human of simple and lowly nature, yet with a sense of royalty about him. He was bleeding and had been beaten severely.

Jesse’s spirit poured out for the human as fellow humans spit on him, mocked him and inflicted more injuries upon his already tattered body.

Pushing this lowly human to the ground, the humans seized Jesse and proceeded to tie him to the human’s back. Forced to continue in this ridicule, the human was brought to his feet and forced to walk through the jeering crowd, under the painful weight of Jesse. The human stumbled and fell, feeling the full force of Jesse upon his shoulders.

Jesse spirit cried out, “I was not destined for this purpose! In my final days, I am not called to bind this human and inflict this agony! Why must he be subjected to this anguish at my hands?”

Jesse and the human continued on their trek through the stony path and jeering crowd of humans.

Strangely enough, through the agony of the moment, he had felt the presence of this gentle human before. But where? Jesse mysteriously felt a bond with this human and realized he must continue on in this tragic adventure with him.

Through the turmoil of the moment, Jesse remembered fondly the safety and warmth of the forest glen. How he wished he were home.

The human did not utter a sound as the crowd of humans grew and continued to beat and insult him.

The human and Jesse were finally led to a place more vile than the stable Jesse had experienced and more lonely than the alley in which Jesse had found himself.

Hoisting the human and Jesse to their final resting place, he could see the entire surroundings of their journey.

In the distance, the ocean spoke to Jesse and he thought of Michael. Past the gathering crowd of angry humans, Jesse saw royal carriages roll silently past and he fondly remembered Jonah. “What splendor,” he gasped, “the others must be experiencing in realizing their dream. And here I remain.”

Then Jesse heard him.

In a whisper of anguish and compassion, he spoke. “Forgive them.”

At that moment, Jesse remembered the face and voice and touch of this lowly human. It had been a familiar face throughout Jesse’s adventures. This human, as a child, had lodged in his stable one cold winter night so many seasons ago. The baby had been delivered there. He could see the innocence in his eyes as he had so many seasons ago on that night.

It was the only redeeming and magical moment in that wretched stable. And they had both been there. He remembered the look of this human child. It was the gentle look of love.

Jesse remembered the voice of the human as he stood on the bough of his boat one stormy day and spoke to the water. The waves subsided and Jesse had no longer felt the strain of the tide against him.

This human had somehow brought calm into a turbulent storm of foam and spray. He remembered the calm voice speaking of new worlds to the other humans in the boat that day. It was the promising voice of peace.

And Jesse remembered vividly the later touch of this human as he raised a cripple off the very plank that Jesse had become.

Disposed of as a broken oxen cart, Jesse became the very vehicle that humans had found and used to lower this cripple through the ceiling tiles of a building. And this human had cured him and eased his journey. Jesse had been touched by this human before and it had been the warm touch of hope.

In the last moments of this human’s existence, Jesse finally realized the fullness of his parents’ message. One’s purpose is always noble if it is the one to which he is called. He and this human had traveled the very same journey in an attempt to accomplish this noble purpose.

He remembered his dreams of splendid furnishings and mighty ships; of comforting cradles and lavish carriages. And through the agony of this human’s pain, Jesse came to realize that he had finally been called to serve as the ship upon which humans would discover a new world.

He waited patiently to serve as the cradle for the gentlest of humans… and it had been fulfilled.

He had responded to the call and served as the carriage to make the human journey easier.

And in this final moment, Jesse came to understand that he had assisted in serving as the table upon which all humans would feast.

Through the increasing darkness of this moment Jesse found his peace. For he waited for his turn. And he had completed his noble purpose.

The sunrise once again brought its message of hope to the forest glen as it quietly welcomed the arrival of its newest member…