Good Timber
by Douglas Malloch
The tree that never had to fight
For sun and sky and air and light,
But stood out in the open plain
And always got its share of rain,
Never became a forest king
But lived and died a scrubby thing.
The man who never had to toil
To gain and farm his patch of soil,
Who never had to win his share
Of sun and sky and light and air,
Never became a manly man
But lived and died as he began.
Good timber does not grow with ease:
The stronger wind, the stronger trees;
The further sky, the greater length;
The more the storm, the more the strength.
By sun and cold, by rain and snow,
In trees and men good timbers grow.
Where thickest lies the forest growth,
We find the patriarchs of both.
And they hold counsel with the stars
Whose broken branches show the scars
Of many winds and much of strife.
This is the common law of life.
The poem above has been a help to me over the years. Doug Malloch is one of my favorite character poets and appears repeatedly throughout this blog. Good timber speaks to the everyday trials that are working to strengthen our character. Every day, we experience things big and small that are building the person we are to become.
As you go out this week, find the growth potential in your daily trials and acknowledge the good timber you are becoming through experience.
"Good timber does not grow with ease"
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