a tree grows in brooklyn and right into lent

i have my lenten art image. and it didn't come from my Bible, though the psalms have been empathetic. it didn't come from church, though community's been great. it came from a most unexpected place, as the most important images usually do: it came from the end of betty smith's novel, "a tree grows in brooklyn". here is that paragraph, "but the tree hadn't died...it hadn't died. a new tree had grown from the stump and its trunk had grown along the ground until it reached a place where there were no wash lines above it. then it had started to grow towards the sky again. annie, the fir tree that the nolans had cherished with waterings and manurings, had long since sickened and died. but this tree in the yard--this tree the men had chopped down...this tree that they built a bonfire around, trying to burn up its stump--this tree lived! it lived! and nothing could destroy it." art project dedicated! grateful...