24th day of Lent
MARCH 24th 2017
BESEECHING BEECH
24th day of Lent
MARCH 24th 2017
There is a most magnificent beech tree on the edge of the Waseley Hills. It has a girth of about 12ft or 13ft and it stretches up into the sky to a height of 60ft or so. And, as is sometimes the case with beech trees, the root system above ground is just very powerful. On a beautiful blue-sky afternoon, this beech seems not quite yet ready to stir out of winter into the new promise of life awaiting it in spring. Beech trees do tend to wake up a little slower than some of their cousins. The weeping willow outside my study window is already showing signs of coming into leaf. And the blossom on black thorn bushes is now quite full. But this beech is still quite skeletal in the upper reaches, though, at the same time, muscular. It is unrivalled on this hill. It seems to stand a sentinel on the brow looking out west across the M5 and the hills rolling down into Worcestershire.
I wrote yesterday about the hands of Jesus stretched out in extremis for humanity. What I see in this tree (all trees) is an upward-stretching silent sentinel, a beseeching beech. Psalm 134 is one of the 15 Psalms of the Ascent which are said by pilgrims as they climb up to Jerusalem on their way to the Temple.
'Come, bless the LORD, all you servants of the LORD,
who stand by night in the house of the LORD!
Lift up your hands to the holy place,
and bless the LORD.
May the LORD, maker of heaven and earth,
bless you from Zion.'
It has probably stood on this prominent spot for more than 150 years - way before the M5 was carved through the valley. May it continue to stretch up to heaven by night and by day.
On today's parish ramble our leader had a photo of one particular tree in a wooded glade which he wanted us to help him find because it was the location of a geo cache. The tree was soon identified and the geo cache discovered hidden in a tree stump, the treasure box containing plastic bugs.
ReplyDeleteOur true riches, our heavenly treasure, are found at the tree of life, in Christ our Saviour.
In Africa, the Tree of Life is the baobab tree. It is indeed a sight to behold. With a trunk that grows up to11m in diameter, a height of up to 30m and a life span of 6000 years , it is a gigantic tree, that one cannot help marvelling at. It looks bizarre, with branches only at the very top, making it look like a tree that has been turned upside down.
ReplyDeleteIt stores thousands of litres of water in its trunks. The leaves are highly nutritious, as are the fruit, being rich in vitamin C and antioxidants. Stripping the bark for rope does no damage to the tree. The trees having naturally hollowed out trunks, or sometimes manmade, are used as shelter. I read of a restaurant in one of these trees along the Limpopo river , and of another used as a prison in the 1800s in Australia. The trees also support thousands of creatures including mammals, birds and insects.
They are wonderful trees, and I urge you to look up images if you have never seen them.
In the Eastern Orthodox church, the Tree of Life, in the book of Genesis, is seen as a foreshadowing of the cross. Wikipedia quotes this prayer,
"Make ready, O Bethlehem, for Eden hath been opened for all. Prepare, O Ephratha, for the tree of life hath blossomed forth in the cave from the Virgin; for her womb did appear as a spiritual paradise in which is planted the divine Plant, whereof eating we shall live and not die as did Adam. Christ shall be born, raising the image that fell of old."
I looked up Bible verses that mention trees. There are hundreds. Here are just a few.
Psalm 1:1-3
How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, Nor stand in the path of sinners, Nor sit in the seat of scoffers! But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night. He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, Which yields its fruit in its season And its leaf does not wither; And in whatever he does, he prospers.
Proverbs 11:30
The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, And he who is wise wins souls.
Proverbs 3:18
She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her, And happy are all who hold her fast.
Matthew 7:17-19
"So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. "A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. "Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
Isaiah 65:22
"They will not build and another inhabit, They will not plant and another eat; For as the lifetime of a tree, so will be the days of My people, And My chosen ones will wear out the work of their hands.
Deuteronomy 20:19-20
"When you besiege a city a long time, to make war against it in order to capture it, you shall not destroy its trees by swinging an axe against them; for you may eat from them, and you shall not cut them down. For is the tree of the field a man, that it should be besieged by you?
Genesis 2:9
Out of the ground the LORD God caused to grow every tree that is pleasing to the sight and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Psalm 52:8
But as for me, I am like a green olive tree in the house of God; I trust in the lovingkindness of God forever and ever.
Psalm 92:12
The righteous man will flourish like the palm tree, He will grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
Revelations 2:7
'He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of life which is in the Paradise of God.'
Rev 22:14
Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter by the gates into the city.
Rev 22: 2
in the middle of its street On either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.
I enlarged yesterday's pew sheet so I could read the people and their gifts who were lost to the church because they did not receive welcome and inclusion. My immediate thought was where did they go and who did they go to? Were they welcomed into extremist groups.
ReplyDeleteIs it too extreme to suggest that by not including into the tree of live we are encouraging people towards the tree of death?