"In My Next Llife....................." Creation Time September 16, 2018

“In My Next Life………………..”

1 Chronicles 16:31-34

Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice,  and let them say among the nations, “God reigns!” Let the sea roar, and all that fills it; let the field exult, and everything in it!  Then shall the trees of the forest sing for joy before God, who comes to set the earth to rights. Give thanks to God, who is good, whose steadfast love lasts forever!

                                               

Daniel 4:10-12

The visions in my head as I lay in bed were these: I saw, behold, a tree in the midst of the earth, and its height was great. The tree grew and became strong, and its top reached to heaven, and it was visible to the end of the whole earth. Its leaves were beautiful and its fruit abundant, and in it was food for all. The beasts of the field found shade under it, and the birds of the heavens lived in its branches, and all flesh was fed from it.

                                                                       

                                                                       Ezekiel 14:12-13
Along both banks of the river, fruit trees of all kinds will grow. Their leaves will not wither, and their fruit will not fail. Each month they will bear fruit, because the water from the sanctuary flows to them. Their fruit will be used for food and their leaves for healing.

                                   

Revelation 22: 1-3

“Then the angel showed me a river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb down the middle of the main street of the city. On either side of the river stood a tree of life, producing twelve kinds of fruit and yielding a fresh crop for each month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. No longer will there be any curse.”

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Poem “In My Next Lifetime”
 

This poem was written by Magie Dominic, a Newfoundland writer and artist, found in the book “Heartwood: Poems for the Love of Trees”.

There’s an advertisement going around, for burial. A person is cremated, then mixed with soil into a kind of pod, with a tree in it – the ashes fertilise the tree and help it to grow. Trees are reputed to be sentient beings – with feelings and a communication network. Research shows that parent trees actually funnel nutrition to saplings, to help them grow, and work to take care of trees which are not well.

In the stories of “Lord of the Rings” by JRR Tolkien, the character Treebeard, an ancient Ent, a tree-herder or tree-shepherd. He’s often considered the oldest living thing on earth, able to remember when the Elves taught the trees to speak. The Ents lived in the forests and paid little attention to the world of humans – until the evil of Sauron threatened everything. They tear down dams and walls, allowing water back into the valleys and bring life back.

Nothing Tolkien wrote was without purpose – and in these stories the survival of the earth and the people in it comes to the forefront. He is critical of advancing technology which is erasing all the things in the world which are good, and focusing on so-called progress, running roughshod over everything to further their agenda.

Tolkien was a professor of English Language and Literature at Oxford, and like his friend, C.S. Lewis, was a Christian writer who saw the damage being done to Creation.

Creation Time – the season of the church year – is something relatively new – an observation of our world designed to help us focus on our natural world, and reflect on what our faith tells us. Creation Time covers Sundays from the beginning of September until the beginning of October. Its followed by three Sundays in which we focus on food and thanks – World Communion Sunday, Thanksgiving Sunday, and World Food Sunday which is the culmination of the Churches’ Week of Action on Food, and also the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty.

And inherent in all these things is the world around us – trees, water, air, and food. And I confess as we look around us, the natural world and how we relate to it and live in it are becoming of more importance to me.

I love trees – I have a load of trees in my small suburban yard. Linden out by the street, two spruce in front of the house; birch, Japanese red maple, white pine, spruce, cypress, a pear tree, and bamboo. I want to add mountain ash. And we’ve noticed as the trees and bushes of the yard grow, we have more birds and animals – including rabbits and opossums.

Trees purify the air – keeping us healthier. Norio and I have been walking in Bluffer’s Park recently – and noticing how many trees there are. We moved to Toronto before the park was there, and we’ve seen it develop. This year the trees, especially the weeping willows, have grown incredibly. And an hour by the lake under the trees makes a difference in the whole day.

So I decided to start looking into Scripture to see what references to trees there were, and how they are represented. There are so many verses that it was hard to choose which ones. And trees all had a life and a purpose. Trees in the Bible were living sentient things  - which sang for joy. They were strong supports, like the Cedars of Lebanon. Trees are used for building, shade, food, heat, medicines.

They grow from tiny seeds into trees which provide food and shelter for animals and birds. Micah sat under his fig tree, offering hospitality and peace to any who came – without question. Feeding the body and the soul. Hospitality, extended under the shade of a tree which gave fruit as well – food for the body, food for the soul. Hospitality.

Palm trees - branches used to welcome royalty, laid on the ground in front of a simple donkey, to praise an extraordinary man who changed the course of history. The dogwood tree – something we know which has beautiful flowers and graces many parts of the world, is considered to be one of the strongest woods. Legend has it that dogwood was used for the crosses of the Romans, because of its hardness. Yet we believe it was also a tree of life – new life in a new way of living and being.

In Japan there’s a concept called “shinrin-yoku”, which literally translates as ‘forestry well’ , and is transliterated as ‘forest bathing’. Being in the presence of trees. It is now clinically proven to lower heart rate, blood pressure, reduces production of stress hormones, boosts the immune system, and improves an overall feeling of well-being. I remember walking in the forest with my mother-in-law, and listening to her talk about how trees and forests were good for the health.

And most important in these readings – trees were necessary for life. Trees provided sustenance, but they were essential for healing. Healing the body, healing the soul, healing the nations.

What medicines come from trees? The very simplest – willow bark, which have been known for centuries as containing the precursor of our modern aspirin - painkiller. Birch for mouthsores, bladder and kidney problems; cedar for fevers and rheumatism; maple bark tea for kidney infections, colds and bronchitis. These are just four – but these four are all around us. There are many more.

In Daniel, Ezekiel and Revelation – the vision of the realm of God is a place where there is a tree of life on either side of the river of the water of life which flows from the Creator; the trees produce twelve kinds of fruit each month. The fruit is to feed all the people so there is no longer hunger or want, and the leaves are for healing – of the body, of the soul, and of the world.

Trees – they are essential for our lives – our physical lives, our spiritual lives. 

In my next lifetime, I want to be a tree -