As I’ve been embarking on this spiritual journey of mine, I’ve begun to take more notice of nature in an attempt to better understand God and his plans for us. I’ve always felt that while we humans are extremely complicated and often think ourselves “advanced,” there is a calm peace in nature that we often overlook and don’t take enough appreciation of in our day to day lives. Only when we are still, silent, and immersed in nature can it truly speak to us and let us in on some of the secrets that can benefit us greatly in our lives. As I’ve been driving around lately and in quiet moments of stillness, I’ve often found myself pondering trees. It seems, that the deeper I get into the soul of a tree, the more alike I realize the tree and I are. For those of you who think I’m tripping out on some heavy drugs by this point, stay with me.
At 5,065 years old, the longest living non-clonal organism on Earth is a Great Basin Bristlecone Pine (Pinus longaeva), a tree species found in the American West, mostly in Utah, Nevada, and California. Some of the longest living trees survive best in the more extreme climates and situations. This being the case, I believe trees are full of wisdom that we can benefit from as living organisms.
One of the primary teachings that the tree has to offer is the importance of putting down “good roots.” A tree that fails to root properly, fails when the strong wind blows. Root growth is essentially opportunistic in its timing and its orientation. It takes place whenever and wherever the environment provides the water, oxygen, minerals, support, and warmth necessary for growth. (http://arnoldia.arboretum.harvard.edu/pdf/articles/1989-49-4-tree-roots-facts-and-fallacies.pdf) We too, are this way. When we grow deeper into who we are, when we choose to root and ground ourselves in the right environment, sound thinking, helpful belief systems, hope and faith, we are less shaken when the winds of life blow. While life becomes chaotic around us due to unforeseen circumstances or emotional challenges that we all go through, we’re able to operate from our deeply rooted beliefs and come out the other side. Like the tree, we should become more opportunistic in life and seize the sacred moments that offer us the opportunities to grow just a bit deeper. Every moment can be sacred and allow us to deepen just a bit more if we choose to pay attention.
One of the “fun facts” I found out while looking to deepen my knowledge of trees was that different parts of a tree grow at different times throughout the year. Typically, most of the foliage growth happens in the spring, followed by trunk growth in the summer and root growth in the fall and winter. I also believe that our roots grow deeper in the darker seasons of our life. There is purpose in our darkest moments to make us seek out meaning from life. In my darkest moment is when I reconnected with God and I’ve heard many other stories of people who claim the same. It is when we come to the end of ourselves that we truly begin. Darkness can be our best friend if we allow it to be for in it we can often find the glimmer of hope and are awakened to what really matters in this life of ours.
It’s incredibly important that the tree has strong, long roots. Wet soil can prevent the tree’s roots from getting much-needed oxygen. Likewise, if the soil is too dry, the tree’s roots will dry out. We, too, require some semblance of balance in order to fully develop the strength and depth of our roots/character. Too great of an environment, we end up spoiled, drunk off of our own fortune, with a prideful attitude unable to understand or have compassion for people who are less fortunate. Too negative an environment, we end up dry, bitter, jealous and broken. We need a balance of both the good situations and the bad in our lives to help us to develop roots that will allow us to withstand all that comes.
In order to grow deep roots, trees need the right environment just as our growth also requires the right environment. Trees require proper nourishment, water, and well-drained soil. As a human, we too need not take our physical environment lightly. In order to truly flourish we also need a proper environment. One of the most amazing abilities we have is that we, in many cases, get to choose our environment. We get the ability to choose who we are going to surround ourselves with, where we are going to spend time, and when it’s time for a new environment. Unlike the tree, a lot of us can adjust our situations to find the environments that allow us to best thrive. Even still, no matter what physical environment we place ourselves in, we also require proper nourishment. This is not only in a physical sense, but also in a spiritual sense. We, of course, need to ensure that we are nourishing our physical being, but more important, is how we nourish our spiritual being. Are we spending time getting to know ourselves? Are we surrounding ourselves with what we wish to become? Are we immersing ourselves in the things that we find meaningful? Are we nourishing our mind with new information? Are we deepening our roots with the time we have so that we can grow stronger, taller, and thrive in difficulty or are we living a shallow life surrounded by artificiality? Are we creating an environment that helps us to become more loving, more compassionate, wiser, less selfish, and more joyful?
Moving on from the topic of roots, though that is one of the most important lessons I’ve gleaned, trees grow stronger with age. Ideally, what we should strive for as we age is an increase in strength so that we can continue to thrive as the years go by. As we become sturdier and a bit less pliable as we grow older it’s important to remember not to become too rigid in our ways as we grow, since the branch that refuses to bend with the wind eventually breaks. We must become strong while maintaining the flexibility to move as life guides us on and asks us to do so for our own benefit.
Let’s now review the amazing lesson found in photosynthesis. Thanking google for this definition: Trees (and other plants) use sunlight to synthesize foods from carbon dioxide and water. Photosynthesis in plants generally involves the green pigment chlorophyll and generates oxygen as a byproduct. I believe that we are all called to learn a lesson from this. Looking a bit more at carbon dioxide, it seems that it is primarily used as a cooling agent of sorts. Symbolically speaking, I find the lesson in this to be that we too should take the coldness in the environment and transform it into something essential to life. When treated with coldness, we should respond with warmth and love. We should be vessels that take in something considered poisonous and secrete love, which is life-giving, thereby lessening the amount of coldness in our environment. Be like a tree!
If that isn’t amazing enough, trees not only contribute by providing oxygen, a life-giving substance for many. They also improve air quality, climate amelioration, conserve and improve water quality by slowing and filtering rain water, and protecting aquifers and watersheds, preserve soil, and support wildlife. They provide shade in the summer, but serve as a windbreak in the winter, too. The tree’s essence is charity and support of all around them. If only we could all learn to be more like the tree in this regard nurturing the creatures, whether human or not, around us with love and generosity. If only we could learn to shelter others from harmful rays. If only we could learn to preserve the environment around us. If only we could support our ecosystem more readily… what a wonderful world this would be!
In the environment of the tree, there are many predatory insects that will attack anything from the roots of the trees to the bark and its leaves. Some are even sap-suckers. I equate sap-suckers to people who take advantage of your sappy sweetness and kind/loving nature. These are the people who want to suck all the love and compassion right out of you because they always have some type of situation that they need to lean on you for, yet never learn from their situations. As we well know, predators in our society are those that simply want to take, while never giving back. The predators are self-serving and always out for their own best interest, taking advantage of anyone in their path. Just as these beings can wreak serious havoc on your tree’s health, so too can these types of people wreak havoc on our health.
Even if we can’t fully create our environment, there are things we can do, like the tree to help us thrive in the environment we are currently in. Scientists have found that trees, when attacked by ravaging insects can flood their leaves with chemicals called phenolics. “Phenolics deter herbivores from feeding on leaves, slow the spread of pathogens in roots and bark, confer some measure of durability to heartwood, and with other secondary metabolites, tend to limit the spread of infection in the sapwood of conifers and broad-leaved trees.” (https://www.fs.usda.gov/treesearch/pubs/40940). We, too, have many mechanisms that we can use to protect ourselves when under spiritual attack. We can read the bible or other holy or uplifting texts to flood our mind with love and light. We can practice techniques, like meditation, to increase awareness and as a result develop more emotional stability. We can speak back to our “monkey mind” with truth. We can learn to contain our negative energy caused by our attack so that it doesn’t infect those around us. As we learn these techniques, we can then teach others how to overcome attacks and help to lift them up just as the trees, when under attack, signal danger to other trees so that they can start their own defense.
I’ve noticed that several passages within the bible draw parallels between how we should live and the tree, which leads me to believe that I am not the first who realizes the importance of understanding how to live from nature and where better to start than with one of the most ancient texts: