Singed

Charred black tips of cedar and sage

One grows stronger; the other evaporates As our ancestors told this forgotten old way

The cedar post, blackened, made it stay If only we can see it — the fires, and traumas, too,

When life is burned, by demons returned,

Lord, make us as cedar — Singed, but not consumed

My grandpa died a month before he turned 103. His family had emigrated from England. He and his twin eventually homesteaded on a little piece of heaven outside Ten Sleep, Wyoming.

Our family cherishes the stories and memories of the past. It was a fascinating, different world back then and we've lost much of the knowledge our ancestors possessed. (Unless you're one of the lucky few who get to keep this way of life going!)

I remember my grandpa showing me this when I was a child but had forgotten it until hearing my dad to my daughter why the 100+-year-old cedar posts we were pulling out of the deep soil had blackened ends.

Some of the wood above ground had seen better days, but amazingly, the charred tips still looked strong and solid. As I looked at the line of old cedar fence posts strung out in front of us that were surrounded by clumps of sagebrush, a thought crossed my path: Cedar and sage have distinct purposes that respond completely opposite when put to the flame.

In Wyoming country, the craggy gnarled wood of sagebrush is chosen for branding because of the intensity of the fire it produces and how quickly it burns. It's the preferred fuel to achieve piping-hot branding irons in a small amount of time.

Our lives are much like wood. We all experience the flame, and it is my prayer that when I am under attack from the enemy or experience significant hardship/traumas, I will be like the cedar post -- strengthening instead of evaporating as embers away in the wind.

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