If you have been paying attention to the news, then you know about the 180-year-old chestnut tree that fell in Amsterdam this past Monday due to high winds.  This wasn’t just any ordinary tree. Anne Frank wrote about it several times in her diary while ensconced in an annex during World War II. Due to unremitting Nazi patrols, Anne was understandably timorous about leaving her hideout.

And yet, in the midst of her fears and an atmosphere of inquietude, there stood a majestic, verdant tree. A habitat for countless birds and squirrels, its branches and leaves gave far more to Anne than it did to anything else. It was a symbol that represented a particular freedom, a connection to magnificence in a world gone awry and chaotic. Mere sight of it brought Anne lasting joy and comfort.

"Our chestnut tree is in full blossom," wrote Anne in May 1944. "It is covered with leaves and is even more beautiful than last year."

Anne Frank was arrested just three months later on August 4, 1944. She tragically died at the age of 15 in the Bergen-Belsen death camp in March 1945.

In our lives, we too experience pain, loneliness, grief, and despair. Although our situations may never be as desperate as Anne's, we also grasp for external symbols of life -- something to preserve the hope within us during our times of anguish.

Trees are a powerful symbol in the biblical tradition as well. Psalm 1 speaks of a life lived with God as being like a tree planted by streams of water. Genesis speaks of the Tree of Life that stands as a symbol of Creator God's power. Trees feature prominently in Jesus' parables as metaphors for faithfulness. But they also played a part in his journey to the cross. It was among the olive trees that Jesus pleaded with God in prayer, "If you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done." And, of course, the most revered tree is the one on which Jesus breathed his last breath.

During the most confusing, desperate times in life, it is this tree that sustains us. It serves as a reminder that Jesus has suffered through pain and sorrow for the sake of humanity, and therefore suffers with us in our greatest time of need. We are not alone. And like Anne's tree -- which broke forth in blossoms in the midst of tragic death and violence -- we remember that the tree of the crucified Christ did not have the last word.

Death has been swallowed up in victory.
Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?
…thanks be to God, who gives us the victory
through our Lord Jesus Christ.

~ I Corinthians 15:54-57