Not long ago my friend’s dad died.
He was an amazing man - a kind, charitable soul. He was a terrific father who talked to his children every day. After the funeral my friend and I got together for coffee. And he told me he didn’t know how he was ever going to get over the loss of his dad. He described a void that could not be filled.
How can he go on living without such a huge part of his life?
This was my friend’s mulberry tree.
In this Sunday’s Gospel Jesus tells his disciples that if they have the faith of a mustard seed they will be able to say to a mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and thrown into the sea, and it will obey you.’
Personally, I think most mulberry trees are rather well located. The idea Jesus would be lending arboreal advice to his disciples at this time is doubtful. What is more helpful is the notion that the mulberry tree stands for that one immovable thing we can’t get over - the loss of a dear one, the addiction or bad habit, the worry about raising the kids. Jesus says all we need is that mustard seed, those five words, ‘Here God, you take it.’ And those 5 words can move that mulberry tree.
So what’s our mulberry tree? What is that situation, who is that person, what is that worry we have to give over to God? More than us, God wants us to hand it over. What’s holding us back? Especially knowing that with God all things are possible?
