Long Live The Trees!

     Those of you who know me will not be surprised when I say I love, love, love trees.  All my life they have been a supportive, life-giving presence.  I remember many years ago when John and I took our little kids camping out west, and drove across the Canadian prairie.  After two days of nothing but fields and sky,  I was feeling very out of sorts, and couldn't figure out why.  Then one night I dreamed of trees all night long, and when I awoke, I realized how my soul was longing for trees. 

     I have always had the joy of living in places next to which trees grew--big ones, the kind I could climb when I was younger and more limber!  And I did.   Not only did I climb trees, I spent days up in them, perched on the broad branch of a Banyan tree, reading good books, and just being, in that delicious way open to children in a special kind of way.

      To this day, it sickens me to see a big tree chopped down.  I grieved for weeks after our neighbor on the Lakeshore took out a beautiful big maple tree to make room for a new deck they were adding to their house.  I grieve whenever I think of all the thoughtless, wasteful, stupid destruction of old growth forests here and all over the world.  Scientists tell us that what happens to the trees happens to us, because they and us humans are very dependent on one another in many, many ways, including the very air we breathe.  We breathe in what they breathe out, and they breathe in what we breathe out, and we share One Holy Breath.

      Here in Sedona, our house is surrounded by 22 beautiful trees, most of them tall pines filled with cones and birds.   They whisper and sing, and in a strong wind sound like the waves of the sea.  I consider them treasured companions.   The pictures on today's blog, taken by our skillful photographer friends when they were here in January,  show me in the arms of a great grandmother Sycamore tree on the shores of Oak Creek near Cathedral rock;   and the shadow of a tree pointing to another, along with a cabin made from felled trees in the last century by the early white settlers;  and the gorgeous branching out of a tree in the golden light of a winter afternoon.  

      What beauty and gifts trees bring to our lives.  No wonder most religions have the archetype of The Tree of Life in their mythology.  Trees teach me how to be deeply rooted in the soil of Divine Life, and steadfast and strong despite troublesome tempests.   They show me how to keep growing up, and branching out to embrace more and more of the Sky and Sun.  They teach me to offer shade,  shelter, and nourishment from the fruit of my life to others who need it.   And when I need something to lean on and be refreshed by, they are there for me.  

      So here's to trees!  Long may they live and flourish and increase on this beautiful planet, and may we humans do half as much good as they do for the life of this good earth and its inhabitants.   Amen!