There is a picture in my mind of a ponderosa pine in my eye. Will you help me take it out? It's been there for almost 400 years, because these massive trees live for four centuries. That's a lot of generations of legacy.
As an example, I was doing some gardening for an older-than-me gentleman. He was talking about how much he disliked his neighbor. Apparently, this man was from a neighboring state to where he grew up, and he proceeded to tell me that he didn't like anyone from there. When I questioned him about his belief, since I knew the neighbor to be a kind and giving man, he justified himself by talking about how loud the man's chickens were, and how his dad hadn't liked anyone from Oklahoma, either.
As we turn our heads with that big old pine in our eye, it can easily fall on the house of our neighbor. These giants can easily get between fifty-five and ninety feet tall, so if we live in an apartment building, think of everyone who gets sideswiped by the branches! We can also pass it along to our kids, lucky them to start life with a ponderosa pine in their eye!
The dilemma of having this size log in my eye is that it's been there for so long that I don't even see it anymore. Maybe my friends or family have tried to tell me about it, but I always turn it around to the speck in their own eye and don't take responsibility for the damage that I am doing. Whether it's pride, selfishness, or unforgiveness, I have a choice to make, and it's going to hurt.
Facing what is hurting me, especially when it's something that I am doing to myself, always bleeds a little. Those 3-inch-long needles can do some damage when you pull them out!
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