Amazing Trees
What secrets the leaves of the trees must hold. They look down upon the ages of mankind and record his deeds both good and evil. What exactly is the life that is held within the branches of the Tree of Life?
The Tree of Life; Its existence is lauded along the thread that binds all True Religion together, which decry the brotherhood of humanity to all who will listen. It is the “plant of birth” in Mesopotamian mythology, the Gaokerena tree of Persian and Zoroastrian legend, the Bodhi tree in Buddhism, in Taoist tradition the tree that produces a peach of immortality every 3000 years, in Christianity it is the Tree of (eternal) Life in the Garden, and in Norse religion it appears as Yggdrasil, the world tree.
It is evident that trees pay an important part in the belief systems of humanity. As tall and majestic as they are, how could they ever have been ignored as a wonder of God’s vast creation?
Have you ever hugged a tree? Well, maybe not hugged per say, but simply taken a deep breath, meditatively close your eyes and gently laid a bare palm upon its bark? After several moments, if you are “in tune”, you begin to feel the grand creature’s energy connecting with your own. I love trees. My love for them deepened the day I took my 7 month old granddaughter outside and placed her hand upon the bark of a 40 foot Douglas fir in our front yard. She watched as I laid her little hand gently against the tree. She then turned her head to me with a look of wonder in her wide little eyes, then turned back to look at our hands, mine on hers, connecting with this grand being.
Trees have been important throughout history. They have been present, almost overseeing mankind’s ventures, recording its comings and goings along the path of life. One of the oldest references there are of trees can be found in the Book of Enoch. They were present when the circumstances that led to the Flood took place – a time of widespread evil. Here’s a peek:
Observe ye everything that takes place in the heaven, how they do not change their orbits, and the luminaries which are in the heaven, how they all rise and set in order each in its season, and transgress not against their appointed order. Behold ye the earth, and give heed to the things which take place upon it from first to last, how steadfast they are, how none of the things upon earth change, but all the works of God appear to you. Behold the summer and the winter, how the whole earth is filled with water, and clouds and dew and rain lie upon it.
Observe and see how (in the winter) all the trees seem as though they had withered and shed all their leaves, except fourteen trees, which do not lose their foliage but retain the old foliage from two to three years till the new comes.
And again, observe ye the days of summer how the sun is above the earth over against it. And you seek shade and shelter by reason of the heat of the sun, and the earth also burns with glowing heat, and so you cannot tread on the earth, or on a rock by reason of its heat.
Observe ye how the trees cover themselves with green leaves and bear fruit: wherefore give ye heed and know with regard to all His works, and recognize how He that liveth for ever hath made them so. And all His works go on thus from year to year for ever, and all the tasks which they accomplish for Him, and their tasks change not, but according as God hath ordained so is it done. And behold how the sea and the rivers in like manner accomplish and change not their tasks from His commandments.
. . .
And it came to pass when the children of men had multiplied that in those days were born unto them beautiful and comely daughters. And the angels, the children of the heaven, saw and lusted after them, and said to one another: ‘Come, let us choose us wives from among the children of men and beget us children.’ And Semjâzâ, who was their leader, said unto them: ‘I fear ye will not indeed agree to do this deed, and I alone shall have to pay the penalty of a great sin.’ And they all answered him and said: ‘Let us all swear an oath, and all bind ourselves by mutual imprecations not to abandon this plan but to do this thing.’ Then sware they all together and bound themselves by mutual imprecations upon it. And they were in all two hundred; who descended in the days of Jared on the summit of Mount Hermon…
Then said the Most High, the Holy and Great One spake, and sent Uriel to the son of Lamech, and said to him: ‘Go to Noah and tell him in my name “Hide thyself!” and reveal to him the end that is approaching: that the whole earth will be destroyed, and a deluge is about to come upon the whole earth, and will destroy all that is on it. And now instruct him that he may escape and his seed may be preserved for all the generations of the world.’
. . .
And then shall the whole earth be tilled in righteousness, and shall all be planted with trees and be full of blessing. And all desirable trees shall be planted on it, and they shall plant vines on it: and the vine which they plant thereon shall yield wine in abundance, and as for all the seed which is sown thereon each measure (of it) shall bear a thousand, and each measure of olives shall yield ten presses of oil.
The Book of Enoch is a must read. It can help one understand how and why there is so much evil in the world. Perhaps I will explore it in a future post. Back to our beloved trees.
Enoch had a son Methuselah, the grandfather of Noah. In those days people lived hundreds of years (what the heck did they eat? I want some! 🙂 ). Methuselah is on record as living longer than any other person – 969 years.
There is a tree in the mountains of California that has been named “the Methuselah tree”. Like the Biblical Methuselah, this tree, a Great Basin bristlecone pine, is the oldest tree on record, a whopping 4,852 years old. 359 years before the flood in Noah’s time this tree was a sapling. It sits on the top of a mountain, overlooking humanity. I wonder what it has seen. I wonder what is recorded in its veins.
There is another tree I’d like to share. This one is lesser known. At least I had not heard anything about it until I happened upon it’s existence the other day. This tree has earned the name “Tree of Life”. I’ll explain how that name came about. I think this tree now holds a particular respect and admiration in my heart.
Found in Olympic National Park, Washington State, this Sitka spruce, the largest type of spruce, rests upon the shorline of the Pacific Ocean, specifically Kalaloch Beach. Maybe “rests” is not the right word. The tree for all intents and purposes is “perched” in a precarious manner. Look at the photo below.
Amazing, isn’t it? As photographs speak 1000 words, I don’t think there is more I need to say about this wonder. Except that it is a true survivor. Is the Earth beneath it pulling it apart as it struggles to remain aloft and alive? Or is the tree, with all its strength, holding together the Earth as forces work to tear it apart?
I see this as a symbol of life. The same energy we exert to pull together the faltering ground beneath us is the same force we must exert to keep ourselves aloft and alive. A question arises in my mind. Is the tree standing alone in its struggle? Look closely. By all appearances it does appear alone. But what of the grass? What of the root systems of nearby trees and shrubs? What of the Earth on either side of its own roots? It survives within an ecosystem suited to help it. One might think it merciful to bring in a bulldozer and fill the gap beneath to help it. However, consider the butterfly. To provide it help when struggling to break free of its cocoon only weakens it. No, the tree is right where it is supposed to be within the circumstances meant for it. The same is true for each one of us. We must not fold under the pressures of life. We must strive to bring forth the inner strength to meet its challenges. Like the tree, we must endure. Every year visitors of the tree are quoted as remarking that perhaps this is the tree’s last year, that by “next” year it will fall. But it does not. Will we?