Iowa is not known for an abundance of pine trees. On a list of the 19 most common trees found in Iowa, you don’t find a pine tree until number 17: the Eastern White Pine. We do see a handful of pine trees around Mount Vernon and Lisbon and I love them.
During two summers while I was in college, I had the opportunity to be a camp counselor in the mountains of Utah. Pine trees grew everywhere there and their scent was amazing, especially after a rain storm. We would use the dead red pine needles to start fires for cook outs and I prided myself with being able to get a fire going with only one match when I had a good supply of red pine.
With pine trees, you get pinecones. While they are often viewed as simply a decoration, they are actually a very important part of the pine tree. Depending on the species of the pine tree, the pinecone can be very tiny or very large. I have a basket in our house full of pinecones measuring 14” and larger from the Sierra Nevada mountains. People are just amazed when they see them.
Why am I obsessed with pinecones? Because pinecones represent the potential to become a towering pine tree. At the camp I worked at we would send the campers home at the end of the week with a pinecone tied with yarn to a paper rolled up with the “Pinecone Legend” inside and place these around their necks as they boarded the buses. We would read it to them before they left and send them off with our love.
The legend reads as follows: “Before you leave Camp today, take a minute and look around you. Notice how beautiful our surroundings are; the majestic peaks, the streams, the wildflowers, the green meadows, and the animal life. Note particularly the many pine trees around us. See how tall and firm and beautiful they are. They represent to us great strength and determination.
“Each new season the pine tree forms cones at the top of its branches. These cones fall to the ground and become lodged in the soft dirt. The cones begin to send out their roots deep into the soil, which begins its growth. As the pine tree grows, it battles with the elements, wind storms, rain, heavy snow, and hot sun. Only the strong, determined, and best rooted trees will survive and grow to maturity. But from each of these trials, the trees grow stronger and receive new beauty.
“We should try to pattern out lives after the pine trees. When we face challenges in our lives, we should realize that if we will be strong and determined, then we will become as firm as the pine trees are. As you continue to grow, reach toward God and put your trust in Him. As long as there are trees in tiny seeds, there will be miracles on earth.”
It was that very last line that always stayed with me: “As long as there are trees in tiny seeds, there will be miracles on earth.” My campers were 12 and 13 year old girls full of uncertainty about life. I was a 21 year old young woman still trying to figure out what I was doing with my own life. As I taught that principle to them that they each had potential to do good and great things, I saw hope in their eyes.
I had with me some very tiny pinecones from my parents’ pine tree in their yard in Cedar Falls. They were adorable to look at and my campers liked to hold them. After they were done looking at them, I would show them a picture of the huge tree that they had fallen from. It was a great object lesson for them to see that a tall and very wide pine tree had come from these tiny pinecones.
Within all of us is greatness; we just have to believe it. We must do the things that will nurture it and grow it. Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” Life is hard and rough things happen to us, even when we are trying to do good things. However, within each of us is the potential to do great things. We cannot allow current situations or potential things we see on the horizon to determine what we will or will not do with our lives.
So rise up. The next time you see a towering pine tree, consider the small pinecone that it came from. Whatever stage you are in your life, consider what you really want to do or where you want to be. Make a plan to achieve your potential. There are seeds within each one of us to become tall trees. Remember, as long as there are trees in tiny seeds, there will be miracles on earth.
Remembering the joys of summer camp
June 22, 2023
Sherene Player with a few of her charges at summer camp in Utah.