A Faithful Fortress
Tree Tag #2739 on Baylor's Sustainability Map
By Abby Stringfield for Dr. Joshua King's ENG 2301: British Literature class, Fall 2025
This reflection is part of a series of “Tree Stories” by Baylor students that take root in their observations about a tree on campus, branch into connections between their tree and their experiences and education, and leaf out into a creative response to the tree.
Welcome
Welcome! I hope through reading my reflections and story that you will leave with a new sense of confidence in the faithfulness of our God. My story is directly tied to how I have felt his consistent hand over my life throughout my time at Baylor and I hope it is one that encourages you. As I have begun to understand more about the character and nature of God through observing the nature he has created, I hope the more you encounter trees in your own life, you will develop a deeper love of our Creator.
Roots
What originally drew me to focus my project on this particular live oak on campus was a personal experience I had with it my freshman year at Baylor. Standing outside the Student Union Building on Fountain Mall, this tree always seemed to be a gentle safe place that I could go and find refuge under. The first time I encountered it, I was struggling in my first year of college and overwhelmed by the business of life. In search of a quiet place to reflect, I stumbled upon my live oak. From then on, I knew I would experience a calmness that came from stepping back and appreciating the nature that came in the form of a canopy of leaves above my head.
As I began to learn more about the physical qualities and history of live oaks through this project, I realized that its physical characteristics aligned and contributed to the feelings of comfort that being in its presence invoked. The live oak’s trunk is sturdy and traditionally around four feet wide. Its vast branches splay around fifty-feet high in various directions adding to its magnitude. Learning about these physical qualities made me feel even more protected when I came back to visit my tree knowing that the swing underneath it would always be there to hold me physically, but my hurts and joys would be safe under its strong branches.
Branches
One of the most formative observations I had while visiting my tree over the semester occurred in November when I took my usual spot underneath my tree upon the green and yellow swing. Immediately, I felt calm and at peace as if just by being in its presence had the ability to slow down my mind. This allowed me to observe the happenings around me including students walking and meeting on Fountain Mall. As my eyes grazed over the individuals around me, my eyes landed on two girls who appeared to be freshman. I was then transported back to my own freshman year when I first encountered the very live oak tree I sat underneath. That time was filled with anxiety and loneliness but hope for the future that God was writing me. Remembering the intense emotions, I felt at that time in my life caused me to be more thankful for how God continually provided for me even when I couldn’t see how he was being faithful. He made a way, provided friends and community for me which allowed me to look on the freshman with compassion as they might have been going through a similar time. My tree is a symbol of how my trust and faith has impacted my life and strengthened over my time at Baylor. Just as the live oak, steady and sturdy, has continued to provide as safe place for me to land, God’s presence is always there for me to call upon and experience through his perfect grace.
One reading that particularly struck me in my experiences with my tree was “When, to the attractions of the busy world” by William Wordsworth. I related to this poem as I felt similar emotions tied with experiences with my tree just as Wordsworth did in his poem. He describes nature’s comforting qualities and instinctive protection that he witnessed first-hand, as he notes, “The snows dissolved, and the genial Spring returned / To clothe the fields with verdure” (lines 43-45). This allowed me to resonate this with my own experience with my tree. Wordsworth’s description of winter melting into spring through vivid imagery helped me understand more about God’s peace which is always present through all types of seasons in life.
Leaves
Introduction
The two poems that I wrote were shaped by the themes and overall structure of the poems, “Dream of the Rood” and “When to the attractions of a busy world”. I found inspiration from “Dream of the Rood” for my first poem, “The Protective Leaf” by gaining insight about how to write a work from the perspective of a tree. I used personification in the same way “Dream of the Rood” does to allow the reader to understand more about the kind nature of the tree I have found refuge under. I wanted the leaf to be a symbol of the nature of God and his desire to protect and provide shelter for his children. I also tried to convey that even though the leaf is but a bud in my poem, it knows it has the ability to contribute to the comforting of the student. It was my goal to show the magnitude of God and how he doesn’t have any limitations in his ability to provide peace and shelter from the storms of life.
My second poem, “A Senior’s Reflection” shows the same student in the first poem coming back to the live oak tree which steadily remained a place of safety and reflecting on how far they have come since their first time encountering it. As live oaks go through life, their leaves continually fall and grow making it almost evergreen. I wanted to tie on this consistency and relate it to the student’s emotions as they reflect on the tree’s faithfulness. “When to the attractions of the busy word” inspired this poem through its reflection on the healing, restoring, and peaceful properties of nature. The senior who reflects does so with gratitude, thanking the tree for always being there for them and pointing them to recognize more of the character of her savior who never slumbers nor sleeps. This made me realize that my tree story is not just about my tree itself, but also about my life and how God can use nature to remind his children of his perfect character.
Creative Response
"The Protective Leaf" & "A Senior's Reflection"
Works Cited
Texas A&M Forest Service - Trees of Texas - List of Trees, texastreeid.tamu.edu/content/TreeDetails/?id=109. Accessed 15 Oct. 2025.
Wordsworth, William. “When, to the attractions of the busy world.”