The Jesus Tree

During my hike on the Horseshoe trail, I was walking in the woods adjoining the French Creek, in dense forest and a long way from humanity. The woods were pretty clean, devoid of any sign of human presence, apart from the mandatory occasional beer bottles and empty Trojan condom packets.

Then, I walked into this tree. All over the tree, hikers and lovers had scrawled their names and love oaths. But the funny thing is, this was the only tree that had been defiled in this manner. Not a single tree around it had been touched. It was as if somehow every hiker and lovelorn soul walking in these woods had been drawn to this one particular tree and channeled his / her emotions into it's bark.

In other words, this tree had taken upon itself the suffering of all other trees in the neighbourhood. The martyr. It was a Jesus Tree.

I was torn between being irritated at the excrement scrawled on the tree and being comforted that this was the only tree that had been treated this way.

I did not add to the tree's misery. I walked on.