Trees as Spiritual Companions

Some people brought a blind man to him and begged him to touch him. 
 ²³ He took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village; and when he had put saliva on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, “Can you see anything?” 
 ²⁴ And the man looked up and said, “I can see people, but they look like trees, walking.” ²⁵ Then Jesus  laid his hands on his eyes again; and he looked intently and his sight was restored...  Mark 8

I love the sight and the sound of the woods in winter. Leaves on deciduous trees fall but if we're fortunate the same branches are festooned with snow at various times through the season. I walked through cedars on Christmas Eve Day and took this photo. I hoped to capture the glistening sifts of snow which randomly descended but had to settle for the dappled sunlight and shadows. In winter trees creak and groan with a different voice which is distinctly of this time of year. There are also the paths of creatures amongst them, which encourage pausing and pondering who went where.

I find great solace in these wintry rambles. They make up for the weaker light and shortened days. I find that they are contemplative, soul-nourishing. It's hard to imagine what they would be like without trees, as a respite from the wind and a refuge for the spirit.

Peter Wohlleben is a German forester who has written a book called The Hidden Life of Trees. He makes a persuasive case for trees as living, social, sentient beings. If we're open trees are members of the "communion of saints" and because of them we aren't alone, even when we're supposedly walking by ourselves.

I hope you get out there and walk amidst the winter trees and that Christ opens your spiritual vision.



Winter in the Northern Woods  Lawren Harris