A Gathering of Souls

Posted by Pat Stewart on Mar 13, 2012 in My Blog, Think About This | 1 comment

And God said, “Let there be light.”  Communing with nature is just so very special to me.  Whether I am in the midst of the breath-taking beauty of the NC/TN mountains in fall, standing on the sandy beaches of the Atlantic or admiring a new bird at my feeder, I seem to feel the supreme connection with my Creator. Such feelings and conversations with He who created it all for our living and enjoying.  What a gift!

When I travel, I get great enjoyment from viewing and learning about what’s special and unique about each locale.  On my recent trip through parts of eastern North Carolina and the Outer Banks, there was so much of the inspiring realizations of treasured gifts.  One such event was the visit to the Dismal Swamp right outside Elizabeth City.  Too much to put in one post, so there will be more to follow.  It is there where I learned the term “cypress knees.”  The locals use it to describe the stumpy looking extensions of the cypress trees found growing in water or in swampy areas.  It is thought that the development of the “knees” at the root system is to help the trees deal with long-term survival in an aquatic or swampy environment.  Pretty cool, I thought.

But, when we moved on to the Elizabeth City waterfront, I had one of my breath-taking experiences when I saw a vast area with the old trees surrounded by the cypress knees.  The knees seemed to have personalities to me.  Some were a single knee standing alone while others were like a family of knees.  As I walked along a dock which took us out over the water, I studied them and realized there seemed to be something rather spiritual about them.  Then, I realized what I was seeing in them.

The cypress knees appeared to me as a Gathering of Souls.  They were silent, standing quietly, perhaps watching and listening to us.  Did any of you see the movie, “City of Angels?”  The movie starred Nicolas Cage and Meg Ryan and Cage played the role of an angel who came to earth and fell in love with a doctor, played by Ryan.  If you saw the movie, you might remember a few scenes where the angel was struggling with becoming human or going back to his angel life. In his times of struggle, hoards of other angels would appear near him, silent, just being present to him…once on the beach and another time on a bunch of buildings.  

These cypress knees remind me of those angels gathering around, watching, listening and comforting.

I have many, many photos I took of the knees, but the one here is one of my favorites.

A Gathering of Souls…all the people who have passed on but we still feel them with us.  Well, I do.  Does this speak to you or do you think I have moved on myself mentally?  I would love to read your comments.