Have you ever heard the story of The Great Tree of Sorrows? A friend of mine in recovery shared this Jewish story with me because of the context of a conversation we had about my ongoing health and healing frustrations in life. After reading it, I was reminded of another story that’s quite similar, but of Christian origin. Before commenting on the spiritual lesson I believe both are meant to teach, here are each of them:
The Great Tree of Sorrows
Once upon a time, people were complaining to their neighbors about their sorrows and sufferings. Each one kept affirming that theirs were the worst of all. The Rabbi responded to their complaining by telling this story: On judgment day when all people met before God. God allowed them to be free from their sufferings by hanging them on a branch of the ‘Great Tree of Sorrows” After that, for an entire day, everybody was free from all their pains and sorrows. Happily they enjoyed the whole day to their hearts content. By evening time, God asked each of the people to pick up from the sacred tree, any sorrows they would find best suited for them to bear. They paced around and around the tree trying to find the best choice. By sunset, when all had made them, God showed how each had reclaimed their original sorrows.
The Room Of Crosses To Bear
One day a man approaches Jesus wanting only to trade his cross in for a better one. He tells him how his cross is just too much of a burden to carry and how everyone else’s seems far more bearable. Jesus then leads the man into a large room full of many crosses of all shapes and sizes and instructs him to put down his own cross and go select a new one. The only stipulation is that once he makes his selection he can never complain or exchange it for another again. So he searches for hours and hours on end in the room noticing the big crosses were even larger and heavier than his own. He knew there was no way he was ever going to be able to carry any one of them. As for each of the smaller crosses he inspects, they all were excruciatingly painful in some way due to the way they were shaped and formed. Finally the man comes upon a cross that seems like it has the least amount of burden for him, as it rests quite nicely upon his shoulder and doesn’t irritate him while carrying it. The man then turns towards Jesus and cries out, “I’ve finally found the perfect cross!” Jesus then smiles and responds lovingly, “My child, don’t you see that is the same cross you carried in with you today?”
I truly believe both of these stories tell the same spiritual lesson in that the sorrows and burdens we each individually carry in life are the ones specifically meant for us to endure and work through. While it may often seem like someone else’s sorrows and burdens are far less cumbersome than the ones we are carrying, that’s only an illusion our ego likes to paint for us. I should know, as my own has frequently attempted to do so because of the physical pain issues I continue to endure.
For those who already know me, or are getting to know me through these writings, I’ve been dealing with this for the past four and a half years now. Sometimes it’s actually led me to look at various friends and loved ones with the thought that their life is much easier and far better than my own. But the more I’ve gotten to know each of them, the more I’ve seen the difficulties they face daily, none of which I hope to ever have to experience in life.
So I believe it really just goes to show that the sorrows and burdens we each carry in life at any given moment in time are the ones best suited for us. Although we may not know why that is when going through any of them, I’ve learned in the end with each of my own that it was always for my greatest highest good. While that may not be as comforting as I’d like it to be for the level of physical pain I feel as I type these words, I will continue to do my best today to trust that this specific sorrow and burden is one my Higher Power knows is best for me at the present time for my spiritual growth…
Peace, love, light, and joy,
Andrew Arthur Dawson