When Trees Cry…

…I cry

Tree log (Photo credit: @Doug88888)

I have felt the impending doom as the faint sounds of buzzing and wood chipper replaced bird songs and leaves rustling in the breeze

I prayed for mercy

Yet still they came

Now the ground is covered in greenery and buds and blossoming white flowers

The tree is naked; the wound is struck

The wood chipper starts up a cacophonous dirge…

Woodchipper (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Once again something precious has been taken. Man has stolen from nature, denuded, destroyed, disrespected, unappreciated, and dishonored her greening. Why? Why does the butchering of a glorious, green, blossoming, budding, magnificent tree feel like I am being molested, diminished, and abused? I have actual physical pain in my body. We are one, that tree and I. We exchange greetings each morning during devotions. She has a name and deep wisdom. She represents the sacredness of life; rooted deeply in the dark, fecund soil, branches reaching for the sky. First they took the towering Torrey Pine tree, protected, by claiming fear of toppling in a storm. Many were taken from fear after a wild-fire came near. Each year they cut more and more, deaf to beauty, nobleness, and grandeur. My soul feels the loss…

Tree buddha (Photo credit: @Doug88888)

I let them see me cry. I let them hear my cries. The skies, so blue and clear, have also choked up and are filling with tear-laden clouds. The ocean that was almost navy blue this morning has turned a despondent gray. When will men learn that we are all interconnected; that nature is nurture and nourisher?

Tree Reflection (Photo credit: @Doug88888)

What are we reflecting on earth? When will the body of the earth be considered sacred?

Tree – leaf canopy (Photo credit: blmiers2)

When will mankind be open again to receive messages of trees, sun, birds and sky? When will we honor and respect the sacredness of the feminine body of the earth?

When trees cry, I cry….

“The tree which moves some to tears of joy is in the eyes of others only a green thing that stands in the way. Some see nature all ridicule and deformity, and some scarce see nature at all. But to the eyes of the man of imagination, nature is imagination itself” William Blake (from The Life and Love of Trees by Lewis Blackwell)

“Trees are the earth’s endless effort to speak to the listening heaven” Rabindranath Tagore

“It is not so much for its beauty that the forest makes a claim upon men’s hearts, as for that subtle something, that quality of air, that emanation from old trees, that so wonderfully changes and renews a weary spirit” Robert Louis Stevenson

“Trees are sanctuaries. Whoever knows how to speak to them, whoever knows how to listen to them, can learn the truth. They do not preach learning and precepts, they preach the ancient law of life” Herman Hesse

“That tree whose leaves are trembling is yearning for something. That tree so lovely to see acts as if it wants to flower; it is yearning for something” Diego Hurtado de Mendoza

“The best friend on earth of man is the tree” Frank Lloyd Wright

“We find out how the tree has always been there as a key partner, feeding and fueling and protecting us” Lewis Blackwell

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