Trees Run Away
Where to go, when the world goes mad
I saw these trees the other day, attempting to pick up their roots and make a run for it.
I can understand. Being rooted on the shores of degeneracy and almost inconceivable levels of deception can be a painful vantage point. Even a tree, might find itself trying to pull up anchor and run to a distant horizon, where life feels less painful.
But what a blessing to be alive to watch the fall of Babylon!
I felt the urge to write something, to lend my voice to a song of hope maybe… I know I am barely heard in the chorus of destruction and dystopian theorizing, but maybe if each of us shares some of the beauty of humanity, God will amplify us. At least to those with ears to hear, eyes to see and hearts to believe and receive.
There is something so beautiful about the human plight and all the tragedies we must face alone. Our unique challenges, when shared, build community and that thread of connection creates incredible designs like the fractal patterns underlying matter. Snowflake mandalas, cohesive friendships, me connected to you through this thread, and you to another and another and so on, weaving this web of love.
I must remind myself over and over again, that I can place weight or meaning on anything I observe, or I can let a program do it for me. I’ve spent the last few years, cleaning up old programs from my human hard drive, so to speak. Seeing how I was forced to perceive things because of my loyalty to certain worldviews. Racing to be in the know about the working of evil, so that I could outwit it.
But I don’t think it ultimately works that way.
I have been tracking a lot of what’s going on in the world lately which has made me feel quite depressed. A feeling of defeat or impending doom pervades every piece of news I see, no matter the source and it seems like there is no escape. The inevitable outcomes are predicted, in motion and it’s a struggle to see any alternatives, other than a total reset. I used to think I was made for precisely times such as this. When I was younger, and Y2K was a thing, I was ready. Then, nothing really happened. I went into my first 10-day silent meditation retreat at a Vipassana center in Texas to ring in 2000. Later when 2012 was predicted as a turning point, the end of the Mayan Calendar and all, I was already 1 year into a 3 year, 3 month, 3 day Tibetan Buddhist retreat in Arizona. If anything happened, I didn’t know. I abstained from communication with the ‘outside’ world and took refuge within, seeking timeless wisdom.
Now, we are on the precipice of something. The ground feels shaky, yet still we carry on. But there is this inner knowing that things are changing very quickly. Accelerating now, this snowball of accumulated life is rolling recklessly down the mountain, picking up speed with each roll, and the unavoidable crash to come looms ahead grinning like a snowman grim reaper.
Is my mind playing tricks on me? Or is the lack of shared truth or common narrative pushing humanity into personal mazes of epic proportions? It’s like we are all running through our personal labyrinth, based on the belief systems we subscribe to, and only those in similar ones can see the puzzle we are individually trying to solve.
It feels like utter collapse on the inside, even though life continues outwardly. Can power built on exploitation really endure? People are realizing collectively that the system in power right now does not love them; evidence continues to demonstrate that even to those who want to believe in reformation. It is a disorienting time, producing anger, grief, fear and strong feelings of nostalgia. I see fellow Gen X-er’s sharing memories from the nineties as the last ‘real’ decade, and I find myself reminiscing times, that were actually quite hard personally, with a longing for the simplicity I felt in those eras despite my acute personal struggles. I still had this shared bond with my peers at the time, perhaps because information was limited and there were less stories circulating about reality. We weren’t arguing about what the narrative was, rather we argued about how we personally chose to adapt to it. There wasn’t this extreme walking on eggshells, or fear to voice an unpopular opinion that appears in today’s hostile world.
There were no cell phones, no instant replays of murders of people living in America taking place in public venues in broad daylight. Not that murders didn’t occur - in my own childhood, my mom’s abusive cocaine dealing boyfriend ‘accidentally’ killed one man that she sought to escape from him with. That was not televised, but had a huge impact in my understanding of how the world works. He got off on manslaughter charges, as that there was no witness willing to testify, and I internalized then that bad guys win, when I watched my mom return to him.
There was no ability to scrutinize and view such horrors repeatedly, nor mock behind the safety of a screen and use as fodder for arguments. Now, people cheer when the person killed symbolized something they hated, taking the humanity out of it all. Just in the last six months, we’ve seen more than a few collectively, beginning with Iryna Zarutska in August of 2025. Not to mention, genocides being carried out with American resources, that no amount of protesting could end.
It’s a hard world, yet there was a promise of something different when I grew up. I may have chosen to go against it, but it was still there as a life-affirming lighthouse in the distance: A good life, with a family and community with common values. The ability to offer a meaningful contribution to your fellow man, but now that is gone as an option en masse. What world are we leaving the future children now? What are the shared values? What one person deems heroic, another vilifies.
The only way I can see at this point to find peace is to do your best to create the kind of world you want to experience. Even if those around you, don’t share your values. Lead the way, be the noble maverick. Let God work through you to be evidence of the benevolence possible in the human heart, whatever that means to you. Bring beauty back, add value to whatever group you find yourself in, do a little extra for somebody struggling, think of all your ancestors sacrificed for you to be alive right now! Don’t let their lives be in vain. Honor the blood coursing through your veins and the breath breathed into your lungs!
Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world,” (John 18:36) and “The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in parables.”(Mark 4:11)
Thank you again for taking the time to read and encourage me, it means a lot. And I know that every time we do that for another human - bear loving witness to their humanity - we are pleasing God and it is enough. Every time we say, “I see you,” and acknowledge them, however they may be tangled within assemblies of deception, we strengthen the tethers leading back to the Creator. We remind one another of the transformative power of repentance and the hope in discovering the kingdom through inner obedience.
Here is to us enduring
And God returning
That is the way to let out what you have been shying away from. Do you ever share your writing with your the newspaper editor? This article seems to be timely enough to have community exposure. All she can do is say no.
Praise God ! For how you found your way through personal trials and trauma and are now able to speak, to write, to inspire with pictures, words, stories rooted in Love from true Source. Thank you Tamara, for sinking your roots deeper into your God given Gift and bear fruits of hope and comfort. It is high time for me to share your Gifts with others.