Joshua Tree

I never thought I'd be so interested in trees... Now living in the Pacific Northwest you'd assume I'd be into trees. To a degree, I do think trees are cool...but rarely do I research them or think about them. But I found myself in quite a unique situation that rose Joshua trees to a high priority in my musings. What is most unusual about these desert trees is that you'll never see one in Oregon. Ok then dude, so why your focus on them? Now it might seem quite random at first, but it actually makes sense, as you hear me out. You see my oldest son and his wife gave birth to their first son on June 3rd...his name is Joshua. Now, unfortunately little Joshua struggled to survive, and was in NICU (infant intensive care) for 3 days. These 3 days were filled with worry, fear, shock, tears and lots and lots of prayer. On the evening of day 2 after a long day at the hospital, I could not sleep. I was up till almost 4AM emailing people to pray with us for baby Joshua's life. Sometime, late in the evening my wife asked me what the name Joshua means? I looked it up, and in simple english, it means "God's Salvation". No less than 15 minutes later, after a late night call from my daughter... she texted me the same question..."What does the name Joshua mean?" This time the answer was fresh in my mind so I fired her a text answer immediately..."God's Salvation". Well as the late night prayers, worry and tears continued I felt God impressing on my heart and mind to consider the U2 album "Joshua Tree". Whoa, Joshua Tree..."God's Salvation Tree"... wow, now isn't that a clever reference to Jesus crucifixion. Jesus is often referred to being crucified on a "tree" or on a "cross" made of wood, which of course comes from a tree. Then that same impression told my heart..."listen to the Joshua Tree album". So I began a habit of listening to the album daily. This album is considered one of rocks best albums of all time and which also happens to be filled with God seeds through out it. This album is brilliant masterpiece musically & lyrically. This U2 album has many references to heaven, eternity, the struggle of faith, the wrestle to life's questions and the dilemma of faith from a human perspective. The first song on that album hit me hard... "Where the Streets Have No Name"...a song clearly about heaven. No, I did not like this...what was God trying to say here? This I was not going to accept, no way! Friday morning, as we gathered at the hospital, my daughter gave her brother a gift...a ink drawing of a "Joshua Tree". Hmmm, that's a weird coincidence. The night before, I get this fixation on U2's Joshua Tree album, while at the same time my daughter is prompted to draw a Joshua Tree? How weird is that? We never talked about Joshua trees, so how bizarre did that become? So I looked up the Joshua Tree, and did a little research...the Joshua Tree apparently was named by the first settlers to the Mojave Desert...in the deserts of southwest California, Nevada, Utah & Arizona. They grow only at an elevation of 2,000 to 6,000 feet. Joshua trees grow no where else but the Mojave. In the shadows of the sunset the trees reminded these settlers of "men with hands raised in surrender to God". In the bible it speaks of Joshua being helped by Moses as he kept his hands raised before God, and as he did, God's people were victorious as Joshua led them in battle. Moses arms got tired, so Aaron and Hur, joined him in holding up Moses arms to God...and victory for Joshua and his army was won. So with that in mind, they named the trees...Joshua Trees. Now, suddenly, all sorts of thoughts are running through my head..."where the streets have no name"... "hands raised in surrender to God"...my daughters drawing...what was this all about, and what did it have to do with baby Joshua? By Friday night the answer was clear...baby Joshua's 3 days with us was over...now he was eternally alive in the place "where streets have no name" forever! Joshua was now with Jesus. As much as I didn't want to hear it...God was preparing my heart for what was about to happen. For that I am thankful. I am so thankful God tries to speak to us in ways we can understand...and for me, its music, especially U2 (one of my favorite bands) and art. God in His grace, knew I was not ready for what was about to happen...He knew I did not understand...yet He spoke to my heart in order to prepare me...to support me...to lovingly comfort me. At ECHO, we are so apparent of God's goodness and know that he speaks through the sacred and the secular. Most importantly, we know we can trust God's heart to speak to each of us in ways we understand...for His heart is towards us...not against us. Life sucks sometimes and we often don't understand the "why's"...but we have a God that reaches to us to sustain us in a messy and broken world. For that I am eternally thankful. That is a message ECHO hopes to not only share with people...but a journey we desire to travel with each other...just as God does!

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be God's!

Brian O

Lead Pastor dude, ECHO