Beach Bums

If you live in the Carolinas or have ever vacationed at the beach in those states, then you may have seen the beach bums around the inner dunes along the beach. Places like Hilton Head have taken great pains to protect the unique lifestyle of the beach bums, and they sprawl across the landscape in their entire splendor. Compared to a towering cherry bark oak, or a stately southern red oak, the live oak (or beach bum as it is known in the world of trees) would fail miserably in a side-by-side test. The live oak is twisted and looks deformed in comparison to what we call normal tree growth. Sawmills no longer clamor for logs from live oak trees. Once it was a highly sought-after source for dense wood. It was perfect for the parts of wooden ships in need of dense wood to repel the occasional cannon ball. Since Blackbeard retired, the pirate trade is not what it used to be off the Carolina coast, and the need to repel cannon balls is not as great; and so the live oak retired. The remaining trees now live at the beach.

Living at the beach is not easy for a tree. Swimming has dire consequences; and surfboards, once called woodies, have been replaced by manmade fibers. Salt spray from the ocean is toxic for most plants, particularly trees. Constant wind generated by the surf, the weather, and the normal thermal dynamics of the sea and shore, are a constant strain on the growing branches and leaves of trees. When you look at the live oak, you will notice the branches of the trees have a wind-swept appearance—a permanent bad hair day, so to speak. They don’t grow up straight and balanced, as is the custom, but lopsided, usually heaviest on the side away from the ocean. This is the result of the constant flow of winds blowing ashore.

Yet there they are. One has to wonder what there is for a tree to do at the beach. Why even try to survive in such a hostile environment? The swamp is bad enough, but at least there, a tree can grow with some sort of normalcy. Here in the blast of sand and salt, no thanks.

Could it be, however, that just like God created trees with style, trees of distinct species, trees that could survive and thrive in the harshness of the swamp, that the live oak was also created for a purpose? And perhaps, in that purpose, we can also get a picture of yet another calling God may have for us?

If we rule out the return of the pirates, then we have to discount the great need for the wood fiber from the live oak. Nuts? I doubt the Planter’s Peanut Guy is preparing for a sudden craze for live oak acorns, so let’s leave those for the squirrels. We then are left with two things: leaves and roots. Let’s start with leaves.

A southern beach is hot in the summer. Any place with shade is a rarity. If you remove the manmade structures from most beaches along the Mid-Atlantic, you will find there is very little left but sand, grass, marsh and swamp. Yet dotting the landscape, nestled down into a sand dune, sits the live oak. It provides relief, a break from the harsh sun. Coupled with a sea breeze, you now have shade and cool right in the middle of an oven.

Maybe (like the live oak on the beach) you live in a harsh environment, one where the heat is intense, and pressure is all around you. Maybe it is your place of work, or anytime your family gets together. Families are fraying and splitting with no relief in sight. Yet there you are. Perhaps God has placed you in just such a place to provide shade, a place of comfort where heat and pressure are abated and a person can relax, or even revive.

The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade at your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. — Psalm 121:5,6

To be like Christ, to represent the Father, we are called upon to provide shade; to put away the heat lamp of a judgmental attitude, the harsh glare of our indignation, and show someone kindness. Paul describes some shade in one of his letters:

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. —Galatians 5:22, 23

There isn’t much rocket science there, or wood science either. No stately form needed or majestic presence; we are to just provide shade. Be kind and thus represent Christ. Not too many folks these days provide shade, but everyone wants it. The shade of kindness doesn’t judge and accuse. The shade says, “Come out of the harshness of the world and rest here.” Shade gets noticed quicker than a hundred sermons out in the sun.

The roots of the live oak serve a vital role in the life of a beach. Those dunes, the ones we walk over, are held in place by the roots of the plants that grow there. The wispy grass and the deformed oaks hold fast to the sand, the sand that would just as soon blow into the lagoon behind the beach. They are an anchor; they hold things in place. Maybe that is where you find yourself. Things everywhere around you are in constant change, from issues of health to family relationships. Just when you think you have things under control, everything changes, and not always for the better. Ledges are full of folks who can’t cope, who cannot find anything to hold onto when the wind and sand is blasting their lives. Remember the live oak.

A man is not established by wickedness, but the root of the righteous cannot be moved. — Proverbs 12:3

Need to get a grip in the world around you? Dig into God’s Word. Anchor yourself in his promises. Allow your roots to tap into his living water, and he will in turn wrap his arms around you. He will provide you with an unmovable anchor, even if the blowing wind is fierce and the entire beach seems to be throwing itself at you. The live oak is aptly named. It lives, even given its environment, and so can we.

Excerpted from Trees, Traps, and Truths, Bradley Antill, author. Visit www.onatreeforestry.com