This is the time of year when we who live in the Piedmont or Coastal Plains might say that we are going to head to the mountains “to see the trees.” There is nothing more stunning than how nature colors the leaves of our deciduous trees in a glorious autumn season. It is also a good time to ask a related question. Do we really SEE all that there is to see in any trees? A living tree is one of Creation’s greatest blessings, offering not only the beauty that awes us but also the shady canopies and nourishing fruit that sustains us. Trees work hard to clean our air, filter our water, and cool our overheating planet. Some of these blessings we acknowledge, some we take for granted, some we abuse. When we do truly see the trees, can we also see where they are not: not in tightly packed low-income neighborhoods, not in arid acres cleared for apartment buildings, not in urban areas devoid of parks?
How and where do trees belong in a creation care theology? A good place to SEE the trees as our Creator made them is in the Psalms. In the very first one, a just man is “like a tree planted beside flowing water.” In Psalm 144, one of the last, we ask that our children will be “like plants full grown.” There is also Psalm 96, in which we mortals are urged to declare God’s glory just as “all the trees of the forest sing for joy” in God’s name. This connection to our “family tree” of Creation means that when we see God’s beauty, bounty, and blessings in the trees, we can see our own possibilities for enriching the world that is our sacred habitat.
What do we see in our bare trees when December comes, and dark branches look like stark etchings against the white winter sky? Do we realize that in winter, these trees are waiting faithfully for the rebirth of their buds in Spring, just as we are awaiting the birth of the Christ child, who brings the good news that we, too, are redeemed for new life? Whenever and wherever we go “to see the trees,” may we sing for joy that we, with all the earth, are expressions of God’s nurturing love, and may we celebrate our high calling to care for creation as Our Lord has, through all seasons cared for us.
Lucinda MacKethan
Wesley Memorial UMC Raleigh
Advocacy Team, Interfaith Creation Care of the Triangle ICCT https://interfaithcreationcare.org/