“Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better.”
– Albert Einstein
I wrote a piece awhile back called “Trees Teach.” As I was laying in bed this morning, listening to the birds chirping outside and the sound of the breeze blowing through the leaves, the large tree outside of my window spoke another truth to me. I realized, I’d forgotten the most important quality within trees that I want to mirror when I’d written that piece. I’d overlooked the fact that they are home. They sustain life for so many other creatures in beautiful ways… oxygenating the air, allowing their leaves to be food for others, allowing the birds to nest in their branches in addition to other wildlife… and also, in death, provide the wood that most of our kind utilizes in building our own homes.
The tree is perhaps one of the most generous living organisms on this planet, existing in service of so many others. In “Be Our Guest,” I’d talked about the concept of service, but as I lay in bed this morning, I see what the embodiment of this looks like. The tree, seemingly, exists to give… never asking for much in return. I realize now that in the hundreds of times I’ve read my favorite children’s book, “The Giving Tree” to my daughter, I failed to see this as a broader truth. Trees are nurturers by nature, always lending themselves to care for others.
As I pondered this, I realized that baby trees are not able to care for as many creatures as fully grown and mature trees. It seems that humans are the same. When I was a spiritual “baby” it was all about me. It was about what I needed and wanted, without really a second thought of how it impacted others. As I continue to grow into spiritual maturity, my entire perspective is shifting and I’m becoming more interested in fulfilling the calling on my life to impact others in a genuinely positive and caring way. Staring at the tree this morning, reminded me that I want to become a “home” for others in that they feel safe resting on my branches and tweeting their stories to me. I want to be a source of love and nourishment for those I cross paths with, even if on a lesser scale than a tree.
I realize in many ways, Jesus taught us to be as trees in Luke 6:27-36.
““But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you.
If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.”
Trees are not vengeful, but show love and kindness to every creature that comes to it seeking refuge… never refusing on basis of the type of creature that seeks it’s love. No matter how a tree is treated, it still exists to share itself with others. When I’d bought the necklace that has now become my favorite (I wear it every day), I didn’t realize how much more meaning it would grow to have. It is a silver tree rooted in a white opal stone wrapped in a silver circle. I bought it early in my spiritual quest as a reminder to stay rooted and firm in the things of the “light.” It was at a time where I was learning how overgrown with weeds my own spiritual garden was. I was working to clear the debris so that I could start planting seeds of higher things in my life, hoping that they would take root and grow within me. I was young in my faith, but hopeful that the garden I was now starting using God’s word would become fruitful one day.
From where I’m standing now, I can see that the seeds are taking root and I’m developing my previously weed infested and overgrown garden into a paradise of strongly rooted trees meant to nurture and heal others. While the wilderness can be a place of darkness that causes you to become lost and forlorn, as the bible often talks of people wandering in spiritual wilderness, it is filled with trees standing ready and willing to teach you their wisdom. As I look back on my life, I realize that my earlier years in the wilderness prepared me to provide a “home” for others. My experience of the wilderness caused me to seek wisdom and developed compassion within me. My experience of the wilderness taught me valuable lessons that I’m now able to teach others. Now I see that maybe we never leave the wilderness, we just gain a different place within it… lost in the darkness of the canopy and then one day becoming the canopy.
In the beginning of my spiritual awakening, I remember questioning why God wouldn’t have woken me up sooner, before I’d blindly caused damage to people in my life… before I’d made a mess of things. I remember feeling grateful, but also kind of annoyed at the same time. I see now, that my awakening was in its own perfect time. If you are currently feeling lost in the wilderness, keep hope, the trees around you are speaking asking you to absorb their lessons. Start quieting your thoughts and begin to listen to what they have to say. They’ve watched you wander around aimlessly seeking a way out into the light of day, and it is them that know the way! In other words, take note of the darkness you experience, allow your darkness to teach you more about who you’ve become and who you want to be. When you listen to your darkness, it points the way to your place in life… rising above into the light where you can shine for others. Honor it, respect it, be grateful for it. It’s molding you into something beautiful…. I promise!
“Happiness is largely an attitude of mind, of viewing life from the right angle.”
– Dale Carnegie
It’s my goal to help as many others as I am able shift their perspectives so that they can begin to view life in a more favorable light. It is all beautiful and working so hard for your good. It is my prayer that more learn to see it!