The Legend of the Dogwood Tree*
The Dogwood tree has always been one of my favorites to blossom during Easter. I have dreamed of having a retirement home in a favorable climate for its growth. Today, I was years old when I learned of the Legend of the Dogwood tree, and it makes a lot of sense, as a lover of the Lenten and Easter season, that it is one of my favorite trees.
The Legend of the Dogwood Tree has been passed down from generation to generation. The Legend says that the cross used to crucify Jesus was made from the sturdy bark of the Dogwood tree, and since Jesus’s crucifixion, God has both cursed and blessed the tree. The tree is no longer as sturdy as it used to be in Jesus’s times and is much smaller. The tree’s blossoming during the Easter season is a blessing as it reminds us of Jesus’s love.
A closer look at the petals from the flower of the Dogwood tree shows that it is in the shape of a cross. The center represents the crown of thorns placed on Jesus’s head at the crucifixion, the indentations on the petals appear to be like the nails driven in Jesus’s hands and feet, and the red dots symbolize the drops of blood shed by Jesus’s body when he was crucified. *(More info at Riverbend Nurseries: www.riverbendnurseries.com). Without a doubt, I will treasure this Legend and share it every time I come across a Dogwood tree.
What stories or legends are you familiar with or fond of to tell of the meaning of Easter?
The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John tell the story of the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus from different perspectives. Do you have a personal favorite? What makes their stories unique and meaningful to you? Which draws you to Christ more? When asked about Easter Sunday, what personal story symbolizes how Jesus’s resurrection has transformed your life?
This year’s lectionary readings focus on the stories from the Gospel of Luke. However, the readings of Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday will focus on the stories told according to the Gospel of John. The Gospel of John gifts us with Jesus’s Farewell Discourse (John 14-17), one of the most fascinating narratives in which Jesus talks while the disciples listen with heavy and confused hearts. Jesus tells his disciples what is coming, how he is going and will not leave us as orphans, for the Holy Spirit will be with us, and how necessary these things are to happen. Jesus prays for himself, his disciples, and the world. The gospel of John walks us through Jesus’s journey to the cross and makes us feel as if we were walking alongside him. It is a slow and long journey, and unless we take the time to walk with Jesus, sit at the Table with Jesus, allow Jesus to wash our feet at the Table, feed us at the Table, and invite us to the Garden to pray with him and be alert, we will miss the long-lasting, life-giving, and everlasting impact of Easter morning.
No matter what story you choose to explain the Easter story to those around you, the Dogwood tree, lilies, the Easter bunny, eggs, and butterflies, none can ever tell the story better than you of how God loves us so much that God came to be among us as Jesus, Emmanuel, fully-human fully-divine, to teach us how to love, live, and be in Christ, to die to our sins, and resurrect in Christ, to live in God’s kingdom here and now and in the life everlasting. When you tell God’s story, tell how Jesus came into your life to live with you a resurrected life.
Have a blessed and glorious Easter in the awareness of God’s love for you, Jesus’s exemplary life of grace, compassion, empathy, and mercy, and the Holy Spirit’s company, joy, and peace.
In Christ,
Pastor Iraida