Leaves & Versions of Reality

authentic writing phone group, 9/12/12
my cell phone in a sun room on benton creek, 7:45 pm
non-subject:an alternative version reality
***

If a leaf could think, what would be its version of reality?

If the leaf hung high on a tree, the ground below would loom large and vast; that is, if the leaf could see beyond the leaves located below its own perch.

If the leaf hung low on the tree, the ground would not seem as vast as if the leaf were higher. The low leaf's field of vision would be more limited than the higher leaf.

At one time in The Way Ministry, followers were called "leaves."

One of the Ministry's bands at the time, Pressed Down Shaken Together And Running Over, wrote and performed a song entitled I Am A Leaf. Part of the words in the chorus were, "I am a leaf, on a mighty tree..."

I liked the song. It was tender.

Leaves are tender, in the sense that a leaf can tear easily. Leaves are strong in the sense that they cling to their twigs and branches when winds are forceful.

We, as individual followers of The Way, were Leaves on The Way Tree.
The Household Fellowships were known as Twigs.
A group of Twigs formed a Branch.
A group of Branches formed a Limb. Typically one US state comprised a Limb, such as the Limb of North Carolina, or the Limb of Wisconsin, or the Limb of Ohio.
An entire country was called a Trunk.

The Roots of the Ministry were only at Ministry locations.
We called them Root Locales.
The main Root Locale was Headquarters in New Knoxville, Ohio.

The Root at Headquarters is where the Research Department was located.
Headquarters is where Doctor lived, and where Craig lived, and where the top leadership lived.
Headquarters is where the Word was worked, where Doctor and the research team intensely dug into the greatness of the Word.
From Headquarters, the greatness of God's accurate Word sounded out around the world.

All together, we, the Household of believers, were The Way Tree.

In nature, a leaf gets its nourishment from the tree on which it grows and from the tree's roots and ultimately from the the soil in which those roots are grounded.
Leaves need sunshine.
A healthy branch produces fruit.
If a branch is not producing fruit and is damaged, sometimes its best to cut off the branch to help the rest of the tree.

In The Way there were two genre of fruit.
One genre was the fruit of the spirit listed in the book of Galatians in the Bible. Love. Joy. Peace. Longsuffering. Gentleness. Goodness. Believing. Meekness. Self-control.
The other genre of fruit were new people, recruits - new Leaves on the mighty Tree.

I recall when Rev. Martindale, the second president of The Way, criticized Pressed Down's song; he made fun of it.
I recall him boldly proclaiming something like, "Who wants to be called a 'leaf!?'"
It seems he thought it was silly.
It felt like Martindale thought we, the Household of Believers, had grown beyond the "Tree" terminology.

At the time I felt badly for Pressed Down; it was like their poetry was being axed by the Man of God.
But I didn't voice my feeling; I suppressed it.
I needed to grow up too.
I was to renew my mind, "casting down imaginations and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God".
I was "to be subject unto the higher powers."
The Ministry had grown more mature.
The Ministry wasn't for everyone; it was for those who were truly seeking an accurate knowledge of the Word; it was for the committed believer, the disciple.

Sometime during his reign as second president of The Way, Martindale had the Household of The Way quit using the metaphor of a tree and its parts.

During Martindale's tenure, The Way Tree became almost a stump.
It's very small now in comparison to what it once was.

It was mostly a lie anyway.

***

Click here to listen to I Am A Leaf by Pressed Down: Link to I Am A Leaf

Click here for more of Pressed Down's music: Link to more music