What is real, anymore?
Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. Ephesians 4: 15
I have been journeying through God’s grace love mercy and forgiveness during September October and now November. It starts with as I was trying to find Sabbath rest in my new situation.
And exploring Sabbath rest- which I am no expert at, but I do know that I need every single day. I was reminded of my journey and that journey that included mercy and forgiveness and grace and love.
And so today we land on love. And although love has been infused all the way along today with specifically hone in on love.
We hear a lot of false things about love. We make things up about love too because it suits us. And you might think I’m being controversial in saying that, but I’m not. I’m going to use an example that I found in Our Daily Bread. The devotion for November 6th. It is not about love but truth.
Its title was almost true is still false.
About a year ago some influencers on Instagram LinkedIn Facebook and other social medias, tick tock started posting about I study Redwood trees.
The actual study doesn’t seem to be available. The original video doesn’t seem to be available but that doesn’t stop influencers from sharing their take on the study.
The video suggested that there been a study about Redwood trees that were injected with something similar to adrenaline to keep them from going dormant and the injected trees died because they weren’t allowed the natural cycle of wintering.
Our Daily Bread points out but redwoods are evergreens and never go dormant so don’t go into a wintering. The video that they saw were giant sequoias.
The video’s message was that this can happen to us as well if we’re busy with no seasons of rest.
Some of the influencers that made their own videos or wrote pieces on it were healthcare facilities, one was called mindbodyearth. Carsonvalleyhealth, Ohmotherdeer, mindbodyblissmags.
They all pointed to sabbath rest – not in Christian words but the need for us all to find that deep rest that we need. For us we need to rest with the Godhead.
The reactions to the videos
Embrace your season of winter. Surrender
Pregnancy and motherhood have taught me to deeply honor our natural rhythms, embracing the quieter, slower moments without feeling the need to explain or justify them. Just as trees require a season of rest to thrive for centuries, we too need time to restore and nurture ourselves—not just for our own well-being, but for the little souls we are raising
Seasonal Depression usually occurs when there are major changes in the seasons, most often within fall or winter. Symptoms that can occur include feeling sad, anxious, irritable, agitated, hopeless, guilty, worthless, helpless, or empty, fatigue or decreased energy, difficulty concentrating, with memory or in making decisions, overeating, changes in appetite, loss of interest or pleasure in activities that once brought joy, isolation and even thoughts of suicide or death. But remember, this is our wintering season.
One person just copied and pasted from another adding bullet points.
if you are feeling those symptoms, we have some ways that may help:
•vitamin d supplements
•get proper sleep and nutrition
•exercise regularly
•try to find opportunities to be outdoors or in natural light •make time for moments with people we love
•participate in hobbies that can be done indoors
•minimise alcohol use if any
•talk to your healthcare provider and or mental health provider
Only one of them admitted *I haven’t been able to find anything on this study, so I cannot report on its accuracy but I love it as a metaphor for our lives regardless.*
Some of the hashtags to these posts:
#slowliving #slowmotherhood #simpleliving #seasonalliving #naturalliving #slowlivingkids #slowdown #slowlifestyle #seasonalaffectivedisorder #winterblues #nature #grounding #personaldevelomentjourney #mindbodyandearth #gardening #autumn #fallvibes #inthegarden #intentionalliving #simpleliving #planting #romaine #slowliving #inspirationalquote #sendingsmiles
And the one on LinkedIn
Two comments from there:
Can you share the tree study source? I’ve been seeing the description of this study float around on social media but am having trouble finding the actual study itself.
I have looked and looked for a study that even close to what this describes, and I cannot find a trace of it. Knowing how well the largest redwoods and sequoias are, I have a hard time believing there is a valid study behind this claim. If you find anything, please let me know! If this study is true, it would be fascinating to read about it.
Some people bother to go looking for the truth, but it wasn’t until Our Daily Bread posted this on November the 6th 2024 that anybody had actually said this is false. This is false news. This is fake news. Our Daily Bread very gently talk about how it was intriguing and relatable and reflective and calming and fantastic cinematography but it just wasn’t true.
And what has this to do with love?
Well…
Everything.
If our love is based on anything other than the truth, then our love is false.
Think about that, and we will chat some more soon.
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