Coming of Age with Trees

As a little girl I used to think trees were the most elegant and magical of creatures.  They held up the sky effortlessly - like hundreds of Atlases holding up the world together.  However, unlike the Atlas of Greek mythology my trees joyfully carried their burden - never once did they stop dancing.

In middle school I began to see trees as noble creatures.  It was in middle school I learned of death and the passage of time. Trees I realized were a constant in our lives.  They outlived us, watched us grow, watched our parents grow - and if you were a Quercus alba- watched our grandparents and our great grandparents grow.  Trees saw many changes in our lives and in the life of the world.  They possessed a wealth of knowledge I could never attain.

In college trees took on a spiritual meaning.  Not only were they holding up the sky, but they were also my connection to heaven.  Trees made heaven not seem so far away.

Soon after college I moved to the desert for a year, and I sorely missed my trees.  I never got used to being the tallest creature on the landscape.  I didn't feel qualified to hold up the sky.

Later in graduate school I spent a year helping cut down trees.  I worked with a University Forestry department marking pines that were ready for harvest.  It was in this capacity that I realized what it feels like to possess powers that are God-like, powers that maybe we were never meant to have - or that were never meant to be taken lightly.  In graduate school trees taught me about the burden of being human.

Would we dance with this burden, like the trees, or would we carry it like the Greek Atlas, ever so gravely and solemnly?

After describing to a high school teacher once my dreams to become an environmentalist, he told me:
      "Sarah, don't forget who made the trees."
I suppose he told me this out of fear I would turn into one of those Godless hippie liberals.

Well, Mr. Smith I may have turned out to be one of those hippie liberals, but I am not Godless.  I know who made the trees, and I have my thoughts on why He made them.  But let us be careful not to forget the trees themselves.  Let us not forget what the trees teach us.  And most of all let us not forget what they teach us in terms of the human condition.  Let us not forget that trees teach us about selflessness, joy, mortality, spirituality.  They teach us that the power that comes with being human should not be taken lightly. They teach us that we are powerful, but we are small.

And so I sit here, waiting for my next lesson in tree philosophy.... And hoping that others are open to learning too.