"In The Trees" explained...
I’ve written a handful of blogs, gained a little over 25 subscribers , and slowly started finding my voice. Thanks to everyone who has interacted with me either in person or on the blog, and to those especially who have encouraged me to keep writing.
This entire blog is my attempt to become a better writer and find a way to put the voice in my head that monologues constantly into written words. Don’t worry, I am sparing you all of a lot of those thoughts! They are mostly about sports, politics, and fringe theological ideas, but occasionally some trains of thought are worth sharing. And if my wife Caitlin, or my friend, Phillip, isn’t nearby, then they’ve got to go somewhere!
But, what is it that you’re reading exactly? Let’s be honest — my thoughts aren’t that special. I don’t write because I think that I’ve got something new and brilliant to say, because I’m convinced that I don’t. Believing I’ve got something new to say to the world can actually be dangerous. It means that I would be holding onto something withheld previously, and that’s not true. No, this blog is about speaking the same, old truth to this current generation.
Every generation needs to hear the same truth about the same God who gave us the same Gospel Jesus preached 2,000 years ago.
In The Trees is about understanding God, His character, His purposes, His Son and His Gospel better. God could be described as an infinitely large forest with an infinite amount of trees inside. The trees of the forest of God are anything that display His glory. This blog aims to understand the forest by being In The Trees.
Some more history on how I came to name this blog…
INSPIRATION #1 - A Song
Shortly after graduating high school in 2015, my new college roommate and I were trying to get to know one another over the summer. We’d text back and forth leading up to our move-in date, and we would share our favorite movies, sports athletes, and musical artists. My roommate, Zach (The “Saltine Deity” as he is more famously known as), mentioned the band Twenty-One Pilots.
I never heard of them, but their multi-platinum record “Stressed Out” was about to takeover the radio that summer. Then, my love and obsession for the two-man band started.
Years before thar breakout song and their album, Blurryface, released, they recorded a song called “Trees” for their album, Vessel, that soon became my favorite not only from their catalog, but a favorite of mine across all artists. When I saw them in concert two years ago, they closed their show with Trees, even though it was never a radio hit.
Give the song a listen and you’ll understand why it’s a closer.
…or you can take a look at the lyrics with me. It repeats the same verse and chorus a few times.
[verse]
I know where you stand
Silent in the trees
And that's where I am
Silent in the trees
Why won't you speak
Where I happen to be?
Silent in the trees
Standing cowardly
[chorus]
I can feel your breath
I can feel my death
I want to know you
I want to see
I want to say
Hello
It’s a very simple song. Almost no rhyming, repeating the same verse and chorus, but building towards a louder and bolder declaration of just wanting to say “Hello”.
My way of interpreting this song is that it’s about someone desperately trying to hear from God and questioning at times why it’s so hard to hear Him. Needless to say, I can relate.
At different points in my life, that longing has felt more dire than at other times. Feeling like He is right around the corner, yet so far away and even hiding from me.
“Why won’t you speak where I happen to be?”
Nevertheless, seeking the presence of God where He is — In The Trees, so to speak — is what this life is about. To know Him — “I want to know you” — is the source of our life. To see Him — “I want to see” — is life’s reward. To talk to God, real conversation — “I want to say, ‘Hello’” — is our life’s greatest struggle to obtain.
And it’s not because God is actually distant. For those that place faith in Him, the Spirit of God is in them. But that’s what faith is sometimes, just sometimes having the courage and humility to say “hello” to God, to acknowledge Him, to want Him. It’s in God’s nature to seek us, and He delights when we do the same.
The name In The Trees was inspired by the message that Twenty-One Pilots often has hidden in their songs (Anathema, Be Concerned, Ode To Sleep, The Judge, Hometown, etc.) which is that faith is often a struggle or a wrestling match with God. Knowing who God is involves a level of wrestling and struggle that can be really hard. However, God always proves to be worth more than the struggle we endure.
Every post, every piece of writing I put out on this blog will involve a certain level of struggle on my end, and perhaps on yours as well. To write about God is to wrestle with His character and inspect my own heart.
Thank you for reading In The Trees. Stay tuned for the next blog post where I look at another inspiration for the naming of this blog: “Cursed are those who are hung on a tree.” (Galatians 3:13)