The tree in the photo above is an African Acacia Tree. They are often called umbrella trees because their canopy is often umbrella shaped and many animals seek shelter from the sun in the shade they provide. This particular tree is hosting a rather large colony of Sociable Weaver birds.
These trees are a favorite feast for many grazing animals, but one animal in particular has a taste for their leaves. Let me give you a photo clue as to what animal I'm talking about:
You guessed it... the Giraffe love to eat Acacia tree leaves. On a side note, this guy was as curious about me as I was about him. He bent down to get a better look at me through the branches of this tree. Fun!
But, back to the Acacia Tree. Now this tree has some built in defenses against being eaten by grazing animals. Like most trees in Africa, the Acacia tree is covered in thorns. But this tree is not your average thorny tree. Oh no, they have two sets of thorns, one long and straight thorn and one with a small hook that is attached alongside the big long thorn. These thorns grow up to four inches long! These are very sharp and pointy and will rip through clothing like it's butter. This I learned from experience while tracking an elephant on foot through the bush, one of those thorns caught the sleeve of my down jacket and ripped a hole in it. Throughout the rest of the trip everywhere I walked and every time I moved, my jacket puffed out downy feathers. I walked around with feathers floating around me like some kind of weird shedding bird.
You would think that these thorns would be enough to detour the animals from eating the leaves. But, the Giraffe have a specialized tongue. The average Giraffe tongue is twenty inches long. It is thin and almost prehensile in use -- by which I mean they can literally curl their tongue around a whole branch and strip it clean. The Giraffe tongue is very tough and desensitized to the sting of the thorns. They have also adapted a set of molars which they use to crush the thorns. Something else you should know about the Giraffe is that they consume up to 140 pounds of produce a day. That's a lot of leaves. It means that a single Giraffe could possible strip several trees bare of it's leaves in a single day. And we all know that leaves are important to trees for things like photosynthesis. The other problem that the Acacia tree faces is that while it may be able to grow taller than many animals, thus keeping it's leaves out of reach of hungry mouths, the an adult Giraffe can stand nearly twenty feet tall.
So, faced with a predator such as a Giraffe, you might wander how Acacia trees survive at all. The secret to their survival is bitterness. Yes, you read that correctly, bitterness is the key. You see, to prevent overgrazing, which will result in the death of the tree, the Acacia participates in chemical warfare. When the tree senses an "attack" on it's leaves it does two things. First, it increases a chemical in it's leaves called tannin. In small amounts, tannin doesn't bother animals, but in increased amounts, it turns the leaves bitter. In fact, animals that have continued to eat the leaves after the tannin has been increased have been known to die, because the tannin is toxic in large amounts.
Next, the tree releases a chemical called ethylene into the air. This chemical is carried downwind to other Acacia trees and when those trees "sense" this chemical, they are then triggered to release the tannins in their leaves, turning them bitter, and to release more ethylene into the air... which is carried downwind... and so on. So the bitterness is passed on, down through the line of trees, thus preventing overgrazing in that area. The Giraffe are on to this game, and the minute they sense that the leaves are turning bitter, they move on to another tree, UPWIND.
Fascinating stuff, huh? But now I want you to make a leap with me here. I want to focus on the word Bitterness. When I looked up the word bitterness, one of the definitions was anger and disappointment at being treated unfairly; resentment. But a few other words popped up in the definition as well and they were:
unpleasantness, disagreeableness, nastiness, rancor, spite, harshness, sourness, churlishness, peevishness, acrimony, hostility, malice, antagonism, vitriol, hatred, loathing, poison, and venom.
Wow... all that from the word bitterness. That's quite a list, wouldn't you say? In fact, I really couldn't find a positive connotation of the word bitter, the only exception being in the context of an alcoholic drink. Most of us want to avoid anything bitter, whether it's food, people, whatever. Bitter doesn't taste good. Bitter doesn't feel good. And a bitter person is no fun to be around.
The other problem with bitterness, is that it's hard to get rid of once it has taken hold. Have you ever bit into a piece of fruit that is bitter? That taste is awful hard to get out of your mouth afterwards isn't it? Have you ever spent time around a person who was bitter? Odds are that if you spent any amount of time around them, you left feeling worse emotionally. That's the serious problem with bitterness, it spreads.
The Bible says this about bitterness:
"Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice." Ephesians 4:31
Recognize a few of those words associated with bitterness in the definition above? Hmmmm..
Acts 8:23 says this: "For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin."
I'll circle back to all this in a second. I was very disturbed by what I saw, heard, and read during this year's election process-- from both sides of the fence-- people were WAY out of the lines of treating each other with common decency and respect. I was hopeful that some of that would at least calm down once the election was over. Then, I thought that once the inauguration took place it would calm down, and now, now I think we are seeing the ramifications of allowing anger and bitterness to take hold in your heart and life.
These are just two of the statements I read yesterday on Facebook:
1. In one day, Trump got more fat women out walking than Michelle Obama did in 8 years.
2 (If you voted for Trump).. then you are truly deplorable, please take that label and own it and stop hiding behind your beliefs.
I will tell you right now, that both of those comments bother me. And they should bother you. I find both comments indefensible. Both of those comments are born not out of anger alone, but anger that has been encouraged and allowed to fester into bitterness. And Bitterness is toxic. Remember the tannins in the Acacia leaves that made them bitter? Do you remember what I said up above that not only is tannin bitter tasting, but that it is also a toxin? Animals who eat too many of the Acacia leaves containing extra tannins die.
Bitterness in the human heart will cause death in your life. A study done in the UK in 2011 directly linked harbored bitterness with the increase of physical disease and a weakened immune system. Mentally and emotionally bitterness causes depression. But, in my opinion the worst part of bitterness comes from the breakdown of human interaction. The lens of bitterness distorts your view of people. It allows you to view people as ideals, beliefs, or actions, not as human beings. Another way to look at this is that each person is made up of many different layers. One layer is the layer of humanness-- the layer that we all have in common-- the idea that we all bleed the same color, we all feel pain, hunger, joy, sorrow etc.... The next layer might involve beliefs or religion or a moral compass or whatever you want to call it. The next layer might be cultural. And so on, you get the picture, no one human being is made up of a single layer. We are each complex and multi-layered. However, when you view someone through a lens of bitterness, you allow yourself to only view one layer of that person. Bitterness allows you discount the truth about the complexity of people. In fact, bitterness then takes it one step further, in that it allows you to then judge that person based upon one small part of their whole. When you feel like you can judge a person based on one layer, it's not a long leap to then dehumanize them and treat them with contempt. Am I making sense to you?
It is this bitterness that is causing people to speak to each other in ways that make my heart break. And I believe that I'm not the only one. This is not how God wants us to interact. This is not how we are made to interact with each other. Bitterness builds walls between people. If you are bitter, you don't listen to what anyone else is really saying. Bitterness allows you to be selfish. It allows you to put your feelings above all others. It allows you to discount anyone else and their feelings.
To be honest, I'm not sure that Jesus would actually have a "dog in this fight" as some might say. He was certainly born during a time of great political turmoil. The Jewish people didn't recognize or understand him because he wan't political in his dealings with people. He didn't get involved in politics. He didn't get involved in the injustice doled out by the Roman government. My guess is that if they had held an election, he might not have participated at all. Instead, Jesus focused on what was important-- people. Helping people. Serving others. Love was his focus all along. He loved people regardless of political affiliation, social standing, economic standing, or religious belief (or unbelief).
So that's it. That's where I am standing. I am standing on the side of love. Love for all. I think that's a side that Jesus would choose. I encourage you to be cautious about what you say and put out there. Is it coming from a place of bitterness and anger? Are you looking at only one layer of the person in front of you?
"A gentle response defuses anger, but a sharp tongue kindles a temper-fire." Proverbs 15:1
One small side note, and then I'll get to some photo's because if you are like me, thats probably your favorite part of the blog (and probably the best part). I have no issue with those who are peacefully protesting-- it is their right to do so, and it does nothing to hurt me. I personally want to live in a country where voices are heard, on all sides. I have no issue with those who have differing political beliefs than I do, because that is just one layer of who they are. I can disagree on one subject and agree with you on many others. But most of all, I can show you the love that you as human being deserve.
On to the photo's... a few more of Giraffe's because well.... it's Giraffe's and they are one cool animal. And a few of some trees from Africa because that scenery and those trees still hold my heart. Have a good day! Know that you are important and loved.
