TREE TALK

"I think that I shall never see a poem lovely as a tree," wrote Joyce Kilmer.

What makes a tree lovely? 

Its height? Tall trees are a sight to behold. And as its canopy extends, so does a tree's capacity to protect us from the sun's sting. Who needs facial cream with SPF 15, 24 or 50 when you can bask in Special Protection for Flawlessness underneath a shady tree?

I won't forget this tree in the middle of Sydney's harbor park. Hundreds of meters away, you could hear birds chirping, their chorus crescendoing as you approach that enormous sky-high tree. Lovely shelter indeed!

Wide trunks and thick barks? The narra tree trunk, for example, can grow two meters in diameter. Wow, all that wood to build one's house and furniture; or using paper---its by-product---to write love letters or school exams with. And not to forget one's being able to come out delighted post toilet time, courtesy of wood's gentler and more discreet daughter, the toilet paper. Lovely functional!

Roots? Even as a narra tree shoots up 40 meters skyward, it burrows with its roots sideways and deeper still---all to steady, nourish and defend itself against raging and relentless winds and rain, shielding us too from disaster and flooding.   

Sad to say though, that because of global warming, we're now deluged with more unusually heavy rainfalls (La Nina) which, in spite of trees' heroic attempts to protect us, could not be prevented. 

Let me just make a short detour. How sad it is that in our country, all sorts of tree harvesting has been banned, including those done by companies who reforest or replenish cut trees.  Legitimate loggers have contractual obligations with government. They follow the rules of engagement, remit their taxes, pay their employees their due, even help communities around them. They invest for the long term, a boon to our economy.

Ban or no ban, illegal loggers continue to ply their trade. That's why they are illegal. They don't follow the rules. And they corrupt the corruptible, to the detriment of our lovely trees! Someone better consult the experts to bring back productive tree harvesters and planters, and ask why we suffer landslides in supposedly non-logging areas.

Wouldn't you agree that our state of forest degradation opposes God's mandate for responsible forest management? Would anyone please pound on Malacanang or the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR)'s doors, before we all drown from tree-less-ness?

Anyway, back to "what makes a tree lovely?"

Fruit? It's the nature of creation: Fruit-bearing trees must yield fruit---mango from mango trees, apple from apple trees---to nourish man with nutrients and enzymes for health and strength, and hopefully long life.

Joyce Kilmer ends his poem with "Poems are made by fools like me, but only God can make a tree." Indeed!
 
Psalm 1:3 likens to a tree someone who delights and meditates on His word, and refuses to follow crooked paths:  

"He will be like a tree planted by streams of water which yields its fruit in season, and whose leaf does not wither---whatever he does prospers," demonstrated by:

Growth, upwards and outwards. Not only in knowledge and stature, but more so in wisdom and right living. Which means, each day you become less prideful, more patient, less stingy, more loving, less judgmental, more gracious, less sensitive to criticism, more productive. More like Jesus.

Growth, inwards and heart-ward. Not deluged, not uprooted, but gently showered by His Word---His Holy spirit trickling through our every joint and marrow, every crevice of the heart, so that only Jesus gets enthroned in this temple, 24/7. That's refreshing waters courtesy of your daily one-on-one with Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, whose blessings overtake us while we give Him first place daily.

Fruit, in and out of season. I still recall that delicious nourishing fruit my good friend Cyd gave me many years back. She shared Jesus. But she did not just speak of Jesus. She lived Jesus. Yay was sheep bound for slaughter but the Good Shepherd seized me by the collar of my heart. Jesus has been, and always will be, my loveliest gift! Jesus is my everything! 

Pastor Paul encouraged us last Sunday to bear much fruit as we tread the new year. "People don't need much sermons; even if you zip the mouth, people will see Jesus in you if you demonstrate His character," he said. 

Have the heart and mind of Jesus and be a lovely tree. Why not today?

Photo credits:  inkart.com, thejourneyofspirit.blogspot.com