09/08/2024: In the Garden of Love

In the Garden of Love

Psalm 125 version by Nan Merrill

Rev. Loren McGrail

Holmdel Community United Church of Christ

September 8, 2024

 

 

When I am among the trees 

   

When I am among the trees,

especially the willows and the honey locust,

equally the beech, the oaks, and the pines,

they give off such hints of gladness.

I would almost say that they save me, and daily.

I am so distant from the hope of myself,

in which I have goodness, and discernment,

and never hurry through the world

but walk slowly and bow often.

Around me the trees stir in their leaves

and call out, “Stay awhile.”

The light flows from their branches.

And they call again, “It’s simple,” they say,

“And you too have come

into the world to do this, to go easy, to be filled

with light, and to shine

Mary Oliver

 

            Let me begin by saying that Merrill’s version of Psalm 125 differs in imagery from the Hebrew translation, but both speak about where people will find security in their relationship to God. The Hebrew Text focuses on people who trust in the Lord being compared to Mount Zion because trust will give people incredible strength and stability.

            Merrill speaks about the relationship between people and God as the way giant trees stand firm and are deeply rooted. Furthermore, she says, “As the trees grow strong in fertile soil, so we mature in the garden of Love, nourished by the Word of Life.”

            Dear Ones, I have been captivated and immersed by this idea all week--- that we should become like big trees. So much so that when I met my new cohort of people of faith studying climate change from around the world on Friday’s first zoom meeting, and was asked to choose a mineral, an animal, or a plant that I identified with I immediately said a sequoia. I said, “I believe that we not only need to be rooted in fertile soil but that we must share the water and the nutrients so all can grow and when we grow tall, we must make space for each other at the top so all can reach for the sun. My new cohort of friends smiled probably wondering how strange or, she must be really tall.

            When talking to my friend Venson later, who you will remember he preached here last February, he told me too that he identified as a tree. He sent this poem:

I am like the tree

I stand and sway with the wind

I bloom with new life in the sun

I am like the tree

I grow through the cold of winter, strengthened by the cold of winter;

bear the weight of snow every winter, and I have yet to be undone.

In the dark of night when I am smothered by the white of snow, still I

glow.

Like the tree, my soul is rooted in the ground of every forest, crowded

city and humble quiet town.

Until the day they cut me down I will mature, and develop, and grow

my roots to the wisdom of the water, grow the branches of my mind to

be long, and strong, and free.

My love for life is rooted in this earth,

I am like the tree

Venson Jordan

 

            Dear Ones, how are you like a tree? What kind of tree? Quickly turn to your neighbor and share your answer. (slide #1).

            Second question, how is your trust in God related to being a big tree? (slide #2).

            Let’s talk about fungi for a moment. Are you aware that trees talk to each other, feed and provide each other with carbon, water, and nutrients? And that the bigger the tree the bigger the underground roots system and mycorrhizal fungi that create this mutualistic relationship.

            Renowned scientist Suzanne Simard discovered this phenomena. It is called the “wood-wide web.” She also discovered that old trees support younger trees until they can make it on their own. She called this the Mother Tree Network. Furthermore, mother trees can recognize their kin. The implications are so important for how we harvest trees and why we must leave some of these big trees for the next generation (slide #3).

            On top when old trees die, they prepare the world around for regeneration, sending their energy back into the ecosystem. The tree offers itself as a nurse log, a nursery for the cultivation of the next generation of fungus, mosses, ferns, and pines. Dear Ones, for what will you be a nurse log for?

Do you see why God needs us as big trees now? On top, we are needed as habitats for all of God’s creatures (slide #4).

 

            And when we are wide, we provide necessary shade for human beings and animals.

            Dear Ones, forests are essential too, for insuring life for all of God’s creatures. So, when we cut down the trees or destroy the forests (slide #5)

we are also destroying their homes (slide #6).

            And when we clearcut or destroy our rainforests, the world’s lungs, we are in the end destroying not only the life that lived there but our own ability to live, to have oxygen.

            This is scary news but there are signs of hope (slide #7).

            In Brazil, for example, where the Amazon is, a couple took to heart the need to replant the forests. They planted 2 million trees in 18 years which allowed 172 bird species, 33 mammals, 15 amphibians, 15 reptiles, and 293 plant species to return. Can I get an Amen.

            As I end, (slide #8)

I would like to invite you to go into the woods and sit if you can and listen to the sounds of life all around you; look up and look down, notice how the trees, our ancestors, are providing life for others. Ponder for a moment how you are going to have a trusting relationship with God. Imagine yourself as one of these large trees standing firm and rooted in the earth supporting other life forms including other trees. See yourself reaching up to the sun keeping an opening for others. And if you can, imagine yourself falling and turning into a nurse log.

            Dear Ones, on this Rally Sunday where we celebrate and bless our children, I invite you to heed the Psalmist and put your trust in God by becoming one of God’s co-creators, a big tree that helps all to mature in the Garden of love. Dear Ones, honor your role so you can become one of those our children can depend on to feed their spirits, support their growth, and together reflect God’s integrity and mirror Love’s way.