By now we are all familiar with (or should be) the Jena 6. Six young men whose lives have been changed forever because of a fight and history of a tree. This tree an object created by God and misrepresented by man. This object that represented privilege to some, and racism to others. As I watched thousands descend on this small community in Louisiana with a big problem, I heard people reference the tree as a symbol of racism that should be chopped down and removed.

It’s sad there should be a barn-like fire event to erase this “symbol” that represents this nation’s horrible underlying and sometimes blatant issues with race. However after hours of hearing these stories I challenged people to think about the “tree” in broader terms even as it relates to our own personal lives. It’s not the tree, it’s the value we give the tree. The tree could have been a rock or a bush. The fact is, it’s our spirit, the lack of understanding and tolerance of others that we need to deal with.

Like our lives, we can chop down the tree but if we don’t deal with the “roots,” the tree will continue to stand and grow. No matter how much we change our outside, appearance our soul on the inside is still in need of work. There are those of us who have suffered painful experiences, and have allowed those hurts and pains to fester in our spirit and continue to take root. We have got to deal with our pain and hurt so that we can nurture a new beginning.

So as we watch the Jena 6 cases continue to unfold, think about the tree and what it represents. Is it really the tree or the spirit of its people? Keep in mind that whatever it is you are going through, “It’s all in divine order.”