Osage Orange

There is probably more than a few of you who are reading the title on this one and wondering what that is. Osage orange is the name of a type of tree that is found in the Midwest. It is sometimes called hedge. I has nasty thorns and is really hard, and never grows straight. Perfect for walking sticks - except you can't find one that isn't shaped like the back of a camel, and if you do, you'll come out of the thicket with thorns in places you won't admit to. The Indians used to use the wood to make their bows out of. It is my favorite wood to make into walking sticks. Those who know me understand that despite 30 days in rehab, I still nurture a habitual addiction to carving walking sticks.

So when I was back visiting my dad at T-giving time, I forced my brother to cruise the country roads until we had at least 4 Osage Orange logs in the car. I like the hedge wood because once you get past the thorns and the very unremarkable bark, there is an equally unremarkable sap wood underneath, just like every other tree. But if you keep carving, the heart wood is a vivid orange, and hard as iron, and absolutely beautiful. But you have to go through a lot to get down to the beauty.

And that's the point - to get past all the unlovely stuff to the real gem on the inside. I guess it's a lot like people - sometimes you have to get past some pretty ugly stuff to find the beauty. I think one of the things that made Jesus so cool was that he could see past thorns and unremarkable bark and ordinary sap wood to get to the real heart of a person. And always it was beautiful, because He is the one who puts the beauty in the hearts of all of us.

Dare to discover the beauty in someone today. They may fight you on it - maybe because they lost hope a long time ago that there was anything beautiful in there. Help them see it again.