Be the Bract


I'm not sure which I enjoy most... Spring or Fall. Each has its own unique beauty, but while Fall brings the mind harvest season and putting to rest nature's covering, Spring is all about revitalization, life and new beginnings.

I love the wide array of blooms that fill the forest floors and adorn so many trees in the Great Smoky Mountains and other locations around the southern U.S.

I suppose the Dogwood is among my most favorite of flowering trees. However, most people mistakenly think that the white of the tree is the flower when it is actually a bract (a modified or specialized leaf) that surrounds the flower in the center.

The bract provides the beautiful color that attracts the bee or other pollinating insect to the flower. The flower is the reproductive part of the plant that ensures a legacy or continuation of similar plants in the future.

Like the bract, we ought to be attracting others to the Lord Jesus Christ who alone can reproduce Himself in others so they can be witnesses (those who point even more people to Jesus), so that there is a legacy of faith and belief that continues into the future.

The Apostle Peter wrote, "In your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect." (1 Peter 3:15)

Don't beat people over the head with the Gospel. That is not attractive or appealing. Treat others with gentleness and respect so that they might see the beauty of Christ at the center of the bracts.

John Oliver Cabin
Cades Cove

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