The Dogwood Story

For years now, the Dogwood tree has been my favorite tree, because it was my Granny’s favorite tree. She told me so many times how much she loved them, and over the years, I could almost recite word for word what she would say ahead of time, and when spring rolled around, you could almost set your clock as to when she would start talking about the dogwoods blooming. It was pretty sweet.

When we moved to our current house in the summer of 2ooo, I decided to plant a dogwood outside my office (our bedroom then) window as a way of remembering and honoring her, since she died earlier that same year. It was tiny—about 4' tall including the root ball, but I put it in the ground that spring and prayed it would have a long life there in that spot. In 2004 when we remodeled our attic to a master suite and our old bedroom became my office, it was the ideal setting for me to look out my office window and see that dogwood tree. I moved into my office in March of 2004, just in time for spring to roll in and for me to enjoy the blooming of that tree prior to Easter. It was awesome.

Ever since then, one of the things I look forward to the most about spring is the blooming of our dogwood tree. It is now 11 years old and has exploded recently in its bloom, and about a week ago, I went out and took some photos of some of the blooms up close, which is what you see above in the photos. Although these are close up shots, the tree is now about 10' tall and is a healthy tree. Even though allergies have been wrecking me of late, they have not stolen the joy I have had every day of looking at the dogwood and enjoying the beauty of that tree but remembering my Granny. Today is her birthday, and she would’ve been 103. So that is part of my story with the dogwood tree. But there is also another story associated with the tree that is pasted in below.

It was once a proud tree which grew straight and tall. Its lumber was prized by builders because of the tree’s strength. The builder who was contracted to build the cross, upon which Jesus was to be crucified, chose the dogwood tree because it towered above the rest with all the majesty of the forest.

The dogwood tree chosen by the builder was proud to have been chosen, but it did not know what it was about to be used for. When the builder had completed his work, the dogwood was filled with pride. When the dogwood realized what it had truly been chosen for it was sad. It begged God to forgive it and take away its majesty.

God agreed to remove the majesty the dogwood once possessed. The dogwood also requested that God make it a symbol of remembrance of the death of Christ Jesus who died for all our sins. God first transformed the tall, strong, majestic tree into a scrawny, twisted tree that was no longer prized by builders. Once this was done, God gave the dogwood a blossom with four pedals to symbolize the cross to which Jesus was nailed. On the tips of the pedals, He left a notch to symbolize the holes created by the nails used to place Jesus on the cross. God also placed a crimson stain around the notches, signifying the blood from Jesus’ hands and feet being nailed to the cross.

In the center of the blossom, God placed the crown of thorns that Jesus wore. Every spring, before Easter arrives, the dogwood tree blossoms to remind us of what Jesus did for us. The dogwood tree gave up its strength, height and majesty to tell us the story of the crucifixion of Jesus. You only need to take the time to read it in John 18.