The Tale of Three Trees Retold By Angela Elwell Hunt

Lance and I enjoy sharing stories so much and yesterday was one of those moments when we would talk non-stop about the best tales we have heard from our childhood. Here is one of his most favorite stories that his father shared with them when he and his sisters were young.

Once upon a mountain top, three little trees stood and dreamed of what they wanted to become when they grew up. The first little tree looked up at the stars and said: "I want to hold treasure. I want to be covered with gold and filled with precious stones. I'll be the most beautiful treasure chest in the world!" The second little tree looked out at the small stream trickling by on its way to the ocean. "I want to be traveling mighty waters and carrying powerful kings. I'll be the strongest ship in the world!" The third little tree looked down into the valley below where busy men and women worked in a busy town. "I don't want to leave the mountain top at all. I want to grow so tall that when people stop to look at me, they'll raise their eyes to heaven and think of God. I will be the tallest tree in the world."

Years passed and the little trees grew tall. One day three woodcutters climbed the mountain. The first woodcutter looked at the first tree and said, "This tree is beautiful. It is perfect for me." With a swoop of his shining ax, the first tree fell. "Now I shall be made into a beautiful chest, I shall hold wonderful treasure!" the first tree said. The second woodcutter looked at the second tree and said, "This tree is strong. It is perfect for me." With a swoop of his shining ax, the second tree fell. "Now I shall sail mighty waters!" thought the second tree. "I shall be a strong ship for mighty kings!" The third tree felt her heart sink when the last woodcutter looked her way. She stood straight and tall and pointed bravely to heaven. But the woodcutter never even looked up. "Any kind of tree will do for me." He muttered. With a swoop of his shining ax the third tree fell.

The first tree rejoiced when the woodcutter brought her to a carpenter's shop. But the carpenter fashioned the tree into a feed box for animals. The once beautiful tree was not covered with gold, nor with treasure. She was coated with sawdust and filled with hay for hungry farm animals. The second tree smiled when the woodcutter took her to a shipyard, but no mighty ship was made that day. Instead, the once strong tree was hammered and sawed into a simple fishing boat. She was too small and too weak to sail to an ocean, or even a river. Instead she was taken to a little lake. The third tree was confused when the woodcutter cut her into strong beams and left her in a lumberyard. "What happened?" The once tall tree wondered. "All I ever wanted was to stay on the mountain top and point to God..."

Many, many days and nights passed. The three trees nearly forgot their dreams. But one night, golden starlight poured over the first tree as a young woman placed her newborn baby in the feed box. "I wish I could make a cradle for him," her husband whispered. The mother squeezed his hand and smiled as the starlight shone on the smooth and the sturdy wood. "This manger is beautiful," she said. And suddenly the first tree knew he was holding the greatest treasure in the world.

One evening a tired traveler and his friends crowded into the old fishing boat. The traveler fell asleep as the second tree quietly sailed out into the lake. Soon a thundering and thrashing storm arose. The little tree shuddered. She knew she did not have the strength to carry so many passengers safely through the wind and the rain. The tired man awakened. He stood up, stretched out his hand and said, "Peace." The storm stopped as quickly as it had begun. And suddenly the second tree knew he was carrying the King of heaven and earth.

One Friday morning, the third tree was startled when her beams were yanked from the forgotten woodpile. She flinched as she was carried through an angry jeering crowd. She shuddered when soldiers nailed a man's hands to her. She felt ugly and harsh and cruel. But on Sunday morning, when the sun rose and the earth trembled with joy beneath her, the third tree knew that God's love had changed everything. It had made the third tree strong. And every time people thought of the third tree, they would think of God.

That was better than being the tallest tree in the world.

So the next time you feel down because you didn't get what you want, just sit tight and be happy because God is thinking of something better to give you.

A LOCKED-UP LIFE (a 2-year old op-ed)

June 22. 2006

A LOCKED-UP LIFE

I may sound pretty weird but I have never perceived a jail in a purely negative manner. I believe freedom and restriction exist in a prison cell. Freedom from witnessing the unpleasant episodes of the outside world and restriction to live with utmost dignity and honor.

Every now and then, I would wildly fantasize of locking myself up alone with nothing but paper and pen as company. Being the dreamer that I am, I know it's really not that bad. It's a different kind of freedom for me. Freedom to create my own world through my writings. Freedom from the people who do nothing but judge you. And mostly, freedom to think. This, I have concluded imagining the individual cells they shoot in Hollywood movies. But every time the realization of belonging in a third world country hits me, I would become skeptical. Then the news last week pushed me to forget that one wild fantasy. A woman prisoner was raped in her cell by her cell mate.

I have never seen a prison up close before. But I am aware of how repulsive it has become through the years. Its bars are as rusty as our justice system in the Philippines. Power and wealth have become the major determinants of “innocent” people. Cops have grown into butlers that protects the “moneys” in the country from the impoverished people who now serve as the residents of the calabooses. We don't have to actually see a prison to help us judge it. Every news involves it. Tortured prisoners. Unhealthy environment. Prison riot. Leakage. Woman prisoners raped. Death Penalty/Abolition.

What difference is there between a tortured prisoner and a tortured businessman? A dead prisoner and a dead congressman? The performer of lethal injection and a murderer? Yes, there is difference. A piece of paper signed by “qualified people” with capitalized A-U-T-H-O-R-I-T-Y. But really, where? Because I honestly am blind to it. Though, I'm still undecided whether the abolition of death penalty would improve our judicial system. Its like being stuck in the middle of an elongating rubber band with your moral beliefs on the other side and intellect on the other.

For now, as a communication student who is obliged to care about the social and political issues in the country, I still feel useless. I have no idea if any of my actions in the future will bring change. I'm still locked up in this stage where the best thing to do is finish my studies and think of a way to get out of this big box called “Lack of Self-Confidence”. I can't do anything big for now but I wish to do one in the future. And after all those goals are finished, I'll probably go build my own cell on my future rooftop with a laptop and the vast of the sky as my company.

i have a secret

I have a secret.
I know you have one too.
But mine seems to turn my whole life around
And God, I really don't know what to do.

I have a problem.
I know you've got loads too.
But I can't seem to get over the fact
That mine is effin true.

My secret is my problem
I wish I could simply tell you.
But it's not as easy as one would think
'Cause it's nothing you'd expect me to do.

I wish I could tell my friends
Or anyone just like you
But I fear that they might just stay away
From this wretched being they once knew.

© Claudine F. Claudio

i won't be getting married soon.

Last night, I was conversing with 2 of my best buds who have been living with me in the apartment for more than a couple of months now. We were talking about our future weddings! Yikes! :-) Nothing yikeyish about it really. This past weeks have been filled with marriage and engagement conversations that made me realize how we're all not getting younger everyday. It was a fun conversation as we try to visualize the dream weddings that we have with our significant others and the inevitable bloopers that we are most likely to commit on those special days.

I just turned 22 early this year and certainly I should not be thinking about marriage yet. Lance and I still have a long way to go. We're both the eldest child in the family and among our cousins on his mother's side and my father's side respectively. We both have big dreams and these glamorous visions of excelling in our own professional careers. We are still planning to go abroad to earn more money so we could enhance the living conditions of our parents in their old age. We have planned not to settle down yet until we haven't ensured the betterment of our parents' lives—at least financially. We would not want to leave them still struggling and working hard for money. We're both the eldest, as I have mentioned, therefore, we intend to provide them everything they need (at least financially) once their beloved children start settling down to live for themselves.

I'm not really sure why I'm writing this. I can get really boring when I try to share this kind of stuff. I usually just write about things that are triggering my emotions. However, last night's conversation left me with that same kind of paranoia that is common to surface when I am worried and afraid about something. I have been working for more than a year now and I haven't saved anything yet for myself (or for my parents). The only contribution that I have given my parents is a bi-monthly payment for my youngest sister's tuition fee. I also inconsistently give them some grands every month if I have an extra. Not that they are demanding for it. Of course not. I know it's really not my obligation to send money every month but I always feel guilty if I don't. The worst part of it is that I decided to live separately so I could lift some burden at home (I eat nonstop and consume too much electricity watching cable TV and surfing the net) but it seem to me that I have just burdened them more by borrowing money this week for my electric bill at the apartment.

The thing is I can't discipline myself when it comes to my luxuries which is eating and watching films. Right now fishkeeping has added much more to my financial worries (I can't seem to grow up and realize that fishes die and they're meant to when their keeper is a dimwitted brat). So, how can I provide them the betterment that they deserve if I can't even handle my own silly fetishes in life?

You know what, maybe I shouldn't get married. Or I should just get married and get all my dreams over and ABSOLUTELY NOT done with.

Or better, I should stop getting carried away with Mads and Sab's serious conversation about marriage and get myself some real good life. Besides no one's proposing anyway. Such a retard.