The Healing Tree: A Journey to God's Love

By Ellen Jones

Whom and how we love is an important decision in our lives. Choices we make in love will be choices that affect us for a lifetime. Our love should reflect the personal commitment we have for the other, knowing that this love is a reflection of Gods love for us. The puzzle of life is to find the path that can fill our hearts with love, not only for another person, but for God.

Lily and Jared find that choosing to love each other is easy but searching for the path to Gods love is a challenge. They need to determine the right decisions to maneuver through their human frailties to embrace Gods love. Each will need to use what they experienced in the past to make the proper choice for a joyful and hope-filled future.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: May 9, 2014
• ISBN: 9781490832708

Ellen Jones

Ellen Jones is a writer, editor, and literary translator from Spanish. Her recent and forthcoming translations include The Remains by Margo Glantz (shortlisted for the Warwick Prize of Women in Translation), Cubanthropy by Iván de la Nuez, The Forgery by Ave Barrera (co-translated with Robin Myers), and Nancy by Bruno Lloret. Her monograph, Literature in Motion: Translating Multilingualism Across the Americas is published by Columbia University Press (2022).

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Copyright © 2014 Ellen Jones.

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Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible®,

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ISBN: 978-1-4908-3271-5 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-3272-2 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-3270-8 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014905920

WestBow Press rev. date: 04/30/2014

Contents

Introduction

Part 1      Lily 1973-1981

Part 2      Jared 1981-2007

Part       Lily 2008-2012

About the Author

Endnotes

Dedication

This book is dedicated to my husband, Brad,

for the patience, love and support that he has

shown me through our life journeys.

Acknowledgments

I have often read through acknowledgments in books before but never truly appreciated what they meant until now. Although the story may come from the author’s heart, the work itself does not come to life without the help of many people. A number of individuals have provided support in many different ways and I want to take the time to fully extend my gratitude for their gifts.

I would first like to thank Betty Cook and Sally Gattuso for truly sharing this journey with me. Many hours in a warm cozy room spent talking, discussing, and editing helped me clarify my intentions for each written word. Through laughter, many off-topic conversations about grandchildren and life and sometimes confusion over commas, we finally achieved this manuscript.

A very special note of gratitude to Kerry Miller as she took time from her very busy life to review a final draft for editing. Her viewpoint and skills proved so invaluable to me. What a talented young lady!

I would also like to thank Marissa Tomczyszyn and Kathy Mullen for their endless support in this manuscript. Each of them talked me through difficult parts, listened to my endless prattle about ideas, and read and reread many times the different versions of this story to help me find just the right wording.

I would also like to extend my gratefulness to Mary Beth and Tom Frazee, Helen Marie Monroe, Dom Gattuso, Donna Gray, Rev. Jeff Burnett, Judy Ramos, Faye Beaulieu, Melody Davenport, Terri Pierce, Lori Muckenstrum, Julie Hillis, Barb Schultz and Kay and Valerie Miller for their initial screening of my manuscript and words of support. It has been said that it takes a village to raise a child and the same can be said of an author.

All of these friends are very special and I hold them near my heart, now and forever.

Thanks are also extended to the publishing team at Westbow Printing for their professional direction and support.

Finally but never least, my love and thanks are extended to my husband, daughters, sister and brother-in-law for giving me the freedom to express myself with their blessings and support.

Introduction

God is always present in our lives. We may notice Him in a beautiful sunrise, a kind word from a friend or in the eyes of a passing stranger; but it takes time to acknowledge God’s presence and ever-reaching warm embrace. I have only known one person who seemed to have this gift naturally and that was my mother, which is another story for another book.

There is an artistic term, pentimento, that describes the aging process of old paint on a canvas. The paint sometimes becomes transparent enough to reveal original images perhaps unveiling a decision by the painter to change the landscape with a different choice or to remember a scene with a new perspective. And so I think it is with our own lives: As we age, we need to consider what has happened to us before in order to contemplate if there is a new point of view that God is repainting for us.

One of the greatest gifts that God gives to us, besides the gift of today, is our memory: perhaps memories from a Bible story or a tale told to us from before our time or an instance from our own life. It is a gift that enables us to recall special situations that can clarify what we are struggling to make sense of today. Often these memories need to be reinterpreted in light of our new understanding of God: What was once so crystal clear at an earlier age takes on a deeper meaning in our present circumstances.

Our life is a personal journey with twists and turns of our choosing. These choices can lead us straight down a path to understanding God’s ever-present love or can lead us astray. A loving relationship with another person is perhaps the most important choice we make in our life. We are presented with many opportunities to love, whether it is for a parent, a spouse, a close friend or a child of one’s own. In each case, there is a way to express our love with tenderness and full awareness. Our love should reflect the personal commitment we have for the other, knowing that this love is another gift from God and that it should express God’s love for us. In finding human love, we find the love of God and there is nothing more natural than this in our lives.

This story is about this journey to God’s love. In order to fully understand this, we must start with where we are in the moment. Frankly, it is the only place God can meet with each of us. We can search high and low throughout the world—in buildings, churches, or temples—and hope that God will seep into our lives, but the search only needs to go as far as the present moment, when we allow for God’s presence into our consciousness. For some, this search for God’s love happens naturally on a daily schedule: for others, it comes in spurts and starts, or perhaps in a big bang of surprise or sadly not at all. Each of us has our own unique path to coming to an understanding of this love and how it will be incorporated into our life.

Lily

February 23, 2012

A picture, a song or a friend can bring back a memory so strong it is as if you are standing in the middle of it. You can look around and see the details of a time long past. You can smell the aromas and feel the breeze as if you are there again. And so it was for me as I looked through pictures that my parents had kept. I had recently lost my father to an illness and my mother passed away a short one and a half years earlier. I decided to reorganize and label their pictures so others after me would know these wonderful people as I did. Then I saw the pictures of my high school and college years. I smiled at some, scowled at others and stopped short as I felt myself pulled back into the time when this journey to God began.

June 6, 1973

I can’t believe I’m finally eighteen! I exclaim to my friends who are celebrating my birthday with me. Jackie, my ultimate best friend, is passing cake around the table and laughingly says, Well, we always do everything together, so turning eighteen only days apart seems appropriate! But I think the best part is that we are finally seniors in high school.

Jeff, an older man who is nineteen and as cute as they come (okay, he is only one year older but somehow the age difference seems so much bigger), smiles at us and says, Wait until you are my age and finally out of school. Then you will really be celebrating.

I have known Jeff for several years. Our mothers work together, and he is a member of the same Catholic church as Jackie and I. His invitation to the party was more for Jackie than for me since she is crazy about him, but that isn’t being totally honest because I like him too (secretly, of course).

The party finally winds down, and Jeff is one of the last to leave. As we step outside together, I notice the first stars of night beginning to appear in the early summer sky. The air cools my face, and I smell the sweet blooms of the Jacaranda tree in the front yard. I turn to Jeff. He smiles at me and says, I left you a card on your kitchen counter for your present. Let me know what you think after you read it.

I smile and nod as he walks briskly to his car and then quickly turn to go back inside and call out to Jackie, Come in here! He left me a card on the counter.

I find the card propped next to some brightly painted canisters. Jackie peers over my shoulder as I see those fateful words: I really like you and would like to take you out as a birthday present. Jackie lets out an anguished cry that confirms that this is a dilemma of epic proportions. How can I be happy about this as I listen to my best friend’s heartbroken cries? As only two teenage girls can do, we sit on the kitchen floor and wallow in the situation together.

Oh, the innocence of youth. My life in California up to this point in time was almost ideal. I had two loving parents, several younger siblings, and caring extended family and friends. My entire consciousness revolved around a few things: my family and friends, my school, my part-time job and my church.

My involvement at my Catholic church was through our youth group, which seemed to encompass most of my time. A small city park lay between our house and the white stucco church. In fact, I could stand in my yard and see the church’s tall bell tower with the smaller rectory nestled next to it.

It was not unusual for me to spend every Saturday and Sunday at youth group activities as well as several weeknights working in the church office at the rectory. We were well-known by the staff and were particularly close to Phil, a seminarian who was spending the year working at our parish. Although Jackie and I attended a nearby Catholic high school, our network of friends in youth group extended to other schools in the area. We were a close-knit group and Phil was our center. We were soon to lose Phil to another church and wondered who could possibly replace him.

I do believe God calls us all to service, and my beginning steps were through youth group activities. The group was definitely about fun and fellowship. God’s presence was always there, close enough to guide us and nudge us toward our Father’s love; but our free will allowed us to choose how much we recognized God.

What should we do? I question Jackie. I feel some happiness at the thought of Jeff’s proposal but despair that this is causing her such hurt. We need some advice, I suggest.

As we look at each other, we come to the same conclusion simultaneously. Let’s go talk to Phil!

We jump in Jackie’s car and drive the two blocks to the church rectory. Phil will help us with this dilemma. He can steer us in the right direction.

As we approach the back door of the single-story rectory, our tear-streaked faces reflect our angst. Phil answers the door, smiles and calls out his nickname for us, Double trouble! We quickly begin babbling about the epic problem. Just as quickly, he holds up his hands and exclaims, Slow down! Wait a minute! I want to introduce you to someone.

Emerging behind Phil, we see a man: he is tall, handsome, has dark hair and eyes full of laughter. Phil introduces him as Jared, the seminarian who is to take Phil’s place at our church. This will be Jared’s final months of preparation for the priesthood. For us, it is the instant crush of two teenage girls; and for a second, our great dilemma is forgotten. Phil jolts us back to reality by asking, Now what is this problem you are having?

In a fast paced exchange, we describe our issue. Should I go out with Jeff or should I step aside for Jackie’s sake? Phil listens, and then he speaks.

Love can be presented to us at the most unexpected times. Sometimes it starts as a small spark that grows into a flame with careful nurturing, and other times it is a rush that completely overcomes the soul with such suddenness that your breath is knocked away. Looking back on that night, I don’t recall Phil’s advice but I do remember catching my breath as I was walking away with Jackie and saying, Why do all the good-looking ones become priests? I just remember shrugging my shoulders and laughing as we left.

Oh, mighty God, how often have You knocked our breath away only to have us shrug our shoulders? You are ever so persistent in nudging us with Your love, yet we become consumed with our own selves and don’t recognize Your calling. Our life’s journey is about remembering the love You have had for us since the beginning.

June 19, 1973

Jared works at our church now, and female participation in the youth group has probably doubled. He has