A Single Tree

One of the things that my wife and I love is the “single trees” that fill the landscapes all over Switzerland. Here are a few in our village of Worb. This has made me wonder, beyond their beauty, what a single tree can teach us about our spirituality and relationship with God.

A Single Tree

Today, I stand in silence,
And it prompts me to be still

To be still
And hold onto my words
To be still
And resist the need to act
To be still
And reside within my name

Rooted in Your creation
I lose my stature
I lose my fullness
I lose my looks
Thank You

Rooted in Your creation
I gain my stature
I gain my fullness
I gain my looks
Thank You

Yet I remain silent
I remain still
For you are present
You are God

Poems Interpretation:

Today I stand in silence,
And it prompts me to be still

“A tree gives glory to God by being a tree. For in being what God means it to be it is obeying [God]. It “consents,” so to speak, to [God’s] creative love. It is expressing an idea which is in God and which is not distinct from the essence of God, and therefore a tree imitates God by being a tree”
― Thomas Merton, New Seeds of Contemplation  

There is much to learn from watching a tree.  How often we don’t notice them.  They aren’t screaming.  They aren’t competing for our attention.  They are living in an existence of just being.

Although the beauty of their changing colors can grab us, this results from the natural law of creation and not something they produced on their own.  They succumb willingly to the flow of the Creator.

Oh, to be secure enough just to be.  To allow our presence to be enough.  To allow the natural law of creation to take over our changing bodies and minds in peace and not try to change it or prolong a season of life.  To be one with ourselves, others, and God so that we may be still.

To be still
And hold onto my words
To be still
And resist the need to act
To be still
And reside within my name

“Silence is the cross on which we must crucify our ego.”
-St. Seraphim of Sarov

Words
Silence is a sign of great freedom—a freedom to choose whether a word becomes an outward sound or returns and dissipates within the soul.  To resist the temptation to speak can be an act of cowardice or a sign of humility.  Or, better yet, it can be an act of suffering.  To attack the ego in such a way that keeps us from being heard, seen, looked at, and noticed is to experience beautiful anguish.  The purifying fire of virtue can lead us to a peaceful existence.

Actions
To do.  To fall into the trap of measuring our worthiness by actions alone.  More so, to measure our faith in such a way seems to bring more torment than peace.  Actions are required, but choosing to do so is peace.  To be in a place of peaceful choice.  Absent of self-satisfaction and full of self-giving deeds.  Above all, there is grace that comes from the freedom to say “yes” and to say “no.”

Name
It strikes me that the priest wants to know our name at our baptisms.  What is it about our name? Why, at this time of purification, immersion, and immense grace, is it only our name that becomes the verbal identification of our souls?  No job, no looks, no accomplishments, no sins, no wounds, no tears, no emotions…just our name, immersed into Truth, the Way, into Life.  Oh, to be still, oh, to be Brett.

Rooted in Your creation
I lose my stature
I lose my fullness
I lose my color
Thank You

Rooted in Your creation
I gain my stature
I gain my fullness
I gain my color
Thank You

Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of every man who speaks of me,
Christ in the eye that sees me,
Christ in the ear that hears me.
-Excerpt from the Lorica of St. Patrick

As the tree has its roots immersed into the firm foundation of the earth, so too are we rooted in the foundation of Christ.  Trees will lose and gain their leaves, fullness, and color, yet their roots remain.  We can lose our jobs, looks, and status and stay hopeful and rooted in truth.  And we are grateful.  We can regain our jobs, looks, and status, and our roots remain true.  And we are thankful.

On the other hand, this truth is an invitation to follow the way of the cross, which causes great tension. The way of the cross is painful when we allow it to examine our lives. We want to be happy and feel “OK,” yet if this is the foundation of our lives, we risk planting our roots in our fragile emotions and external circumstances. Over time, we become anxious, insecure, and ungrateful.

Oh, to live through Him, with Him, and in Him…to follow His lead yet never lose hope.  To follow Him into the depths of what needs to change and die in us, only to rise again in new life.  Oh, to be thankful for the journey of death.  Oh, to be grateful for the journey of life.

Yet I remain silent
I remain still
For you are present
You are God

“Be still and know that I am God!
I am exalted among the nations,
exalted on the earth.”
-Ps 46:10

To live a life with sincere hearts.  For only here can we see Him.  To quiet our senses.  To calm our soul.  To give glory to Him with nothing more than our being.   Beyond words, beyond actions, beyond thoughts, to be still and know.