We drove to Tyler this week and could see all along the road the damage that has been done to the trees. Since I am not an arborist I was not sure if it was pine beetle, old age, COVID or the freeze, but I suspect it was the deep freeze. Even in my neighborhood, lots of trees seem to have taken a deep shudder and let go of many of their leaves.
I checked the Forest Service website and it said that the sudden change of the pine needles is a reaction to the cold. It said it was, “a normal physiological response.” Further, “most trees in East Texas will survive the freeze damage.” The difference might be the health of the tree before the cold snap. A weakened tree might not come back or it might become the target of insect invasion in the spring. Right now, they said, “not to panic.”
Our culture has been through a year long deep freeze. No one knows what is on the other side. It seems clear that the introduction of the vaccine, the number of people who have already recovered from COVID and the many people who have adjusted to safe behavior protocols has finally tipped the pandemic in the right direction. Now the question is, what about all the damage? Is it permanent? What will recovery look like? Is it time to panic or can we be patient just a little longer?
What will this all mean for the church of Jesus? Some people have switched churches, we have had over 50 people join this year. Some people have dropped out of church. Some people have started attending online that have been disconnected for a long time. What does it all mean? One of the first great pandemics in Western society led to growth in the church. It was not fast, but it was steady and was the turning point in the church conquering the Roman Empire. The analysis of what made the difference was the influence the church had on health. The caring churches, the ones that picked the path of helping keep people safe are the ones that won in the long run.
It will be a while before anyone knows what was damage, what was pruning, and what the future holds. Our job is to continue to be faithful to loving people more than ourselves and serving them in the name of Jesus.