“Catch the tree!”

by Jack L. Hall
from The Christian Science Journal, July, 2023

Last year, our daughter, son-in-law, and grandchildren were spending a holiday weekend with my wife and me. After enjoying some time outdoors, my daughter and I had just started up the exterior stairs when we heard disturbingly loud cracking sounds. About 15 feet in front of us, a 50-foot-tall oak tree had just broken away at its stump and was falling directly toward us.

I quickly stepped up onto the landing and then hurried onto the upper stairs, where I was free and clear. But my relief vanished when I looked back to see that my daughter was still on the lower stairs in the path of the rapidly falling tree. The picture before me presented a stark claim of hopelessness and despair.

My immediate reaction was, “This can’t be happening!” While what I was seeing seemed devastating, I knew it could not be the truth about the situation. From my study of Christian Science I knew that our Father-Mother Love would never place His daughter in harm’s way. A child of God and a falling tree simply do not belong in the same place at the same time.

It seemed an instant but also an eternity, a moment during which time did not exist.

At that point, an imperative command filled my consciousness: “Catch the tree!”—and I stepped back down without hesitation.

I can’t say exactly what took place next. Moving back down onto the landing was like stepping into light. It seemed an instant but also an eternity, a moment during which time did not exist. I have no memory at all of any impact from catching the tree, but the next thing I was conscious of was me holding the tree up and away from where my daughter was standing.

My daughter had leaned out over the railing, bracing for impact—but all of the noises stopped and no tree came crashing down. Looking up in my direction, she saw me holding the tree up and sensed that it was now safe for her to move. When I saw she had moved clear, untouched by the tree, I then stepped back and set the trunk of the tree down on top of one of the landing’s posts.

This experience wasn’t like a sudden burst of physical energy and superhuman strength—it was an instance of incredible peace and calm such as I had never experienced before. During this entire endeavor I had exerted no physical effort; the tree simply rested in my arms without any weight. While holding the tree, I experienced no stress or strain. It was as though I’d witnessed “the equipoise of that thought-force, which launched the earth in its orbit and said to the proud wave, ‘Thus far and no farther’ ” (Mary Baker Eddy, Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, p. 124).

To the left of where I caught the tree, the handrail had been shattered. The upper limbs of the tree lay across my wife’s car. The insurance company declared the car a total loss. My right forearm showed minor scrapes and the palm of my left hand had two small splinters of bark, none of which were evident after just a few days.

Science and Health, the Christian Science textbook, explains how such protection is possible. Page 123 states: “The verity of Mind shows conclusively how it is that matter seems to be, but is not. Divine Science, rising above physical theories, excludes matter, resolves things into thoughts, and replaces the objects of material sense with spiritual ideas.”

Divine Mind had shown me exactly what I needed to do, in a way I could immediately comprehend and act upon.

God, divine Mind, had shown me exactly what I needed to do, in a way I could immediately comprehend and act upon. I obeyed with absolute trust that I was capable and Father-Mother Love would never place me in harm’s way. As Christ Jesus said, “With God all things are possible” (Mark 10:27).

Reflecting further on this experience, I see the falling tree symbolizing error, or a mistaken thought, while the directive to catch the tree was a call to handle error with spiritual truth. In Christian Science error is recognized and acknowledged to be nothing, a mistaken claim of the exact opposite of God’s good government. It therefore carries no weight when seen in the light of spiritual understanding. Throughout this incident God’s harmonious activity was expressed, and all the while, our family was held within the warm embrace of divine Love.

I am so grateful to God for His marvelous light that shines without ceasing.

This article was published in the July 2023 issue of The Christian Science Journal. To learn more about this monthly magazine, published online and in print, visit HERE.