That Tree I Knew (in honor of National Love a Tree Day)

 

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.  John 3:16

For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans 6:23

“To everything there is a season,

A time for every purpose under heaven:

A time to be born,

And a time to die;

A time to plant,

And a time to pluck what is planted;

A time to kill,

And a time to heal;

A time to break down,

And a time to build up;

A time to weep,

And a time to laugh;

A time to mourn,

And a time to dance;

A time to cast away stones,

And a time to gather stones;

A time to embrace,

And a time to refrain from embracing;

A time to gain,

And a time to lose;

A time to keep,

And a time to throw away;

A time to tear,

And a time to sew;

A time to keep silence,

And a time to speak;

A time to love,

And a time to hate;

A time of war,

And a time of peace.” Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

Recently our neighborhood lost a great tree. What I mean when I say “great”: old, tall, healthy, spectacular-looking. Since it was still healthy, I was saddened to hear that it was going to be cut down. The reasons behind it being cut down are not important here; but I do want to say that cutting down a healthy tree is different from cutting down an unhealthy tree.

The morning it was to be cut down, I was at home. The tree's owners advised us that there would be a crane and large trucks preventing us from using our driveways and the end of the street. I was interested in how they would cut down such a tall tree, but also just wanted to watch its end. I’ve noticed this tree for the nine years we have lived on this block and have always marveled at its beauty and uniqueness. Sometimes it was a quick glance before getting in my car and seeing the morning sun hit it in just the right way. Or maybe it was studying its beauty and waiting for the perfect photo opportunity. I KNEW this tree.

As I watched it come down, piece by piece (kind of like taking apart an artificial Christmas tree), I thought of all this tree had “seen”. It had been standing during the first World War (maybe), the second (certainly), surviving through our current age of technology. It had likely sheltered countless species of birds, as well as squirrels and raccoons.

While admiring the skill of the man who operated the chainsaw (not to mention the crane operator), I watched it come down faster than I had expected. Despite the difficulty of removing such a large tree, they were done by noon. It seemed wrong that something that had grown to this towering height over so many years came down in just a few hours. I thought of the approximately 100 years of growing from a tiny seed...it was sobering, sad. The loud, violent sound of the chainsaw seemed appropriate to what was happening. The smell of the ground stump still lingered over a week later, a clean pine scent I enjoyed, despite its reminder of what was no longer there. 

The tree is/was a world unto itself, as many large trees are. I am not sure what sort of analogy I want to make, but what stands out to me has been the fact that all living things must die eventually. For humans that means eternal life. For this tree, I guess, it just means that its time on earth has come to an end. BUT: there are parts of this tree that will go on forever. We are all connected to the earth in one way or another as living beings. In Diana Butler Bass’s book, Grounded, she shares thoughts from Paul Tillich (a German-American Christian existentialist philosopher, religious socialist, and Lutheran Protestant theologian): “Human life may be finite, destined for dirt and death; but the ground and all that came from it and was connected to it was drenched with the divine, the source of infinite holiness.” She shares that Tillich didn’t mean that God was literally dirt, but that He is the “numinous presence at the center of all things”. 

When things die, they return to the earth and atmosphere in different ways. 

Unlike trees, as human beings we are promised eternal life with God when our earthly bodies perish. 

Scripture tells us:

For it is My Father’s will that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. John 6:40

I give them eternal life, and they will never perish—ever! No one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all. No one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. John 10:28-29

For You granted Him authority over all humanity, so that He may give eternal life to all those You have given Him. John 17:2

Prayer: Dear Lord, thank you for your promise of eternal Life with You. Help us to turn to you when we are grieving the loss of something that was once living, whether it is a part of nature or a beloved being with whom we have shared life. We know that all living things must die; we turn to you for understanding and comfort when these losses hurt us. Thank you for the connectedness of living things on this earth. Be with us on our journey. Amen.

Donna Gustafson (reprinted from 2022)

(photos of the white pine referred to in this devotion are shown above. Click on photos to view larger.)

Storing Treasures

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal.  But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven where moth and rust do not destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.  Matthew 6:19-21

Jesus teaches about the orientation we must endeavor to achieve, directing our hearts toward the things of heaven, rather than worldly possessions and desires.  He speaks of moths, rust and thieves as threats to the material goods we strive to attain.  Of course, Jesus is also addressing more broadly the many agents ready and waiting to erode the worldly wealth we are so inclined to try and possess.  

I am inclined to be a saver, or as we sometimes joke, an “archivist,” following in the footsteps of my parents and grandparents.  My more minimalist adult children often respond with a polite “no thank you” when I offer “treasures” that I see as important elements of the history of our family.  Their arguably more scriptural perspective prompts me to contemplate how I might direct my heart more faithfully in sharing the worldly possessions—from financial assets to antique china—with which I have been endowed.  This is especially true during the season of stewardship.  

The poet Ralph Waldo Emerson puts it another way:  “The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.” 

Prayer: Heavenly Creator, thank you for the many ways you care for us as we navigate this physical world.  We ask for your direction in turning our hearts toward heaven.  Guide us in using and sharing the worldly possessions for which we are responsible in ways that bring glory to you and your light to those we encounter.  Amen 

Barry and Alinda Stelk (reprinted from 2017)

Psalm 121 Promise

The Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore. Psalm 121:8 

The Month of May

The month of May is a long one. It stretches 31 days but oh how wonderful it is. The sun shines, the rains come and the world we have been given wakes to late spring and the coming of warmth and beauty. Birthdays, graduations, marathons, and at the end of the month memories of the past for Memorial Day. Yes, it does stretch out and we get very busy in our own happy way. We plant flowers, pull rhubarb, greet neighbors and give up monthly meetings until fall. 

But as I write this, I am reminded of a hymn we sang when I was young that had a stanza that went “In the rustling grass, I hear him pass, he speaks to me everywhere”. The ground on which we walk, the water that we carelessly use but also so badly need for sustaining life, the trees that blow in the wind, the birds that sing are all a gift from God. Even the storms remind us that we are not really in charge. His land we must tend, and while tending, make time to stop and listen so we can hear him pass and hear him speak.  Amen. 

Carolyn F Olsen (reprinted from May 2024)

Words from Proverbs 16

The mind of a person plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps. Proverbs 16:9 

Happy Anniversary, Eastridge Presbyterian Church (Some Eastridge History)

 

In 1953, a seed was planted. That seed fell on good soil and was heard and understood (Matthew 13:1- 23). Eastridge Presbyterian Church has produced significant crops in worship, education, mission, fellowship, and music.

Eastridge began with six families gathered for worship at Holmes Elementary School in May 1953. Worship has taken on a special meaning during Lent and Advent, with traditions including a children's palm processional on Palm Sunday, communion on Maundy Thursday, a Good Friday service, an Easter sunrise service, and Christmas Eve candlelight services.

Eastridge has long made a commitment to nourish outside the church through its mission efforts. During the 1960's, family nights combined food, fellowship and education. Summer work camps for youth also began in the 1960's. The food pantry, which began in a basement closet, expanded to require a separate building. Today, our outreach includes service and funding to numerous organizations.

The house that is Eastridge was built on rock in 1953 (Matthew 7:24-27). The building that houses the sanctuary and fellowship hall was dedicated in November 1956, and the education unit was added in 1960. The lounge was built in 1976, and the sanctuary was expanded and a balcony added in 1987. In 2008 the welcome center and the alteration of the chancel were completed in the sanctuary. Over the past 20 years other improvements have been made to the property.

Happy anniversary, Eastridge Presbyterian Church! (information above taken from historical documents in the office).

Rain

Ask the Lord for rain in the springtime; it is the Lord who sends the thunderstorms. He gives showers of rain to all people, and plants of the field to everyone.  Zechariah 10:1

May he be like rain falling on a mown field; like showers watering the earth. Psalms 72:6

There is such delight in being able to listen to a gentle spring rain, with only faint grumbles of thunder. The sound of drops pattering on horizontal surfaces and trickling down vertical ones is like a soothing lullaby. Seeing the mistiness making lights waver and bright spring greens shimmer is like enjoying a moving work of art, shifting in the changing cloud light. Birds send out their most joyful songs and seem to chuckle softly to themselves. Puddles reflect the white sky and seem to boil with bubbles as drops bounce into them. The freshness of the air and the smells of the wet earth make everything feel clean and rinsed of dusty weariness.  Spring's growth is nourished just as the soul's thirst for comfort and healing is tended. Memories of other times and places in this hypnotic kind of soft rainfall arise and pull this moment into a thread of continuity.  

Rain has many associations for Christians; in the Bible - and in agricultural states like the one where I live - rain is an important part of the planting and growing seasons. Crops and livestock depend on adequate rain, and ultimately everyone's food supply is tied to it. God provides all this, and it is a testament of his care when the rain falls; it is a gift that feeds all people. 

The rain can be threatening, and floods are a fearful event in Biblical lore. Rain is sometimes symbolic of God's righteousness showering down on the earth.  

But the beneficial rain is inclusive; it falls on everyone and everything. If we choose to shower blessings like this, we share them without exception to all within reach. God is in the water that baptizes us, the water that cleans us and everything we use and touch and see, the water that is a habitat for countless amazing beings, the water that nourishes our food and the trees and plants that give us shade and joy.

The rain I am enjoying at this moment is one of the ways I can experience God's peace that surpasses understanding. This same rain is making someone else feel soggy and chilled, so I have to hope that somehow God's comfort is felt by that person in some way as well. I often work in the evenings, and I am fortunate enough to be home by an open door for this rainfall. Someone else who planned an outdoor event for this evening has had to make a change in plans and isn't feeling as fortunate.  

There is a Jewish prayer recited at the start of the rainy season in Israel. This is an excerpt.  

May He send rain from the heavenly towers,

To soften the earth with its crystal showers.

You have named water the symbol of Your might,

All that breathes life in its drops to delight. 

O revive those who praise Your powers of rain....

For you are God, who causes the wind to blow 

and the rain to fall; 

for a blessing and not for a curse - Amen!

For life, and not for death - Amen!

For plenty, and not for scarcity - Amen!

Mollie Manner (reprinted from 2018)