and a branch shall grow out of his roots.
Isaiah 11:1
I've been thinking about the Christian Advent symbol of the Jesse Tree which some congregations include in the journey toward the birth of Jesus, the Christ. While the majority of liturgical churches observe a four-week Advent, beginning December 3rd this year, the season was originally seven weeks, so we're already a couple of weeks in!
But I digress...That Jesse Tree is a complement or even an antidote to the rush to put up Christmas trees in churches. The notion is to begin with a bare tree and then adorn it with symbols taken from the biblical story which are the "shoots" from Jesse, parent of David, and fulfilled in Jesus. This is a visual "spiritual family tree" which builds from week to week.
I'm pondering the Jesse Tree as a symbol of Creation as well, and asking whether we need an ecological version which honours the Creator and the necessity of trees for the existence of all living creatures. Too often humans have treated trees and forests with contempt. In Canada we raze massive tracts of one of the most important forest systems on the planet, and in British Columbia huge and ancient trees, living versions of Tolkien's Ents, are being toppled with little interest in protection.
Sycamore Gap Tree
The story which has haunted me is of the reckless felling a an iconic sycamore tree along Hadrian's Wall near the border between England and Scotland. Several men cut it down for no reason and left it where it dropped. It was a sickening act of arborcide which caused many to mourn, although the hillsides around the site which once were cloaked in tree are now bare. In some respects the Sycamore Gap tree is representative of something much more pervasive.
I've written often enough about the astonishing number of references in the bible to trees, literally from beginning to end. And we sometimes refer to the cross of Christ as the tree.
The 15th century Advent hymn, O Come, O Come Emmanuel, the first in Voices United has a verse which speaks of our anticipation of the One who is the "rod of Jesse".
At the least I'll imagine what the symbols of the Creation-honouring Jesse Tree might look like during this Advent 2023. Perhaps some of the images in the wonderful painting of the Tree of Life in the chapel of the Anishinabe Spiritual Centre on the way to Manitoulin Island, created by Indigenous artist Blake Debassige.
O come, O Rod of Jesse's stem,
from every foe deliver them
that trust your mighty power to save,
and give them victory o'er the grave.
O Come, O Come Emmanuel Voices United 1
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