Sweet and Sacred Trees

 

Today we heard from friends who have several hectares of mixed bush not far from Lindsay, Ontario. It includes sugar maple trees that they've been tapping for several years now. It's the old-fashioned way, with spiles and buckets. They reported that in a 24-hour period their trees gifted them with 80 litres of sap, translating to 2 litres of syrup at the 40 to 1 ratio. I commented that this was a wonderful form of generosity and they assured me that they expressed their gratitude to the trees in return. 

We have chatted about reverentially acknowledging the trees around us, something Ruth and I do virtually every time we're in the woods, including during a walk in Prince Edward County earlier today. We began to do so after I read about the ritual of thanks offered by Ethiopian Christians as they enter their Church Forests, oases of trees surrounding church buildings, often in areas otherwise denuded of vegetation. As it happens, the husband of the maple syrup couple visited a Church Forest during a trip to Ethiopia a few years ago. By serendipity or providence he met the author of the article I read about Church Forests at a restaurant while in the country. 

Ten days from now I will attend a seminar in nearby Napanee about Little Forests, also called Micro-Forests. It is concept developed by a Japanese botanist named Akira Miyawaki who came up with the idea about 40 years ago.These are densely planted forests the size of a tennis court, or smaller, that contain hundreds of plants. They encourage biodiversity in small plats and achieve maturity much faster. Canada has vast forests but we need these micro-forests in urban areas as well. 

Okay, I may be rambling here, but I hope you are able to follow the thread. Trees matter in so many ways for the well-being of Planet Earth and their gifts to humans and other creatures are manifold. Little wonder that there are so many trees in our Judeo/Christian scriptures and that they are regarded with respect and even reverence.

So, the next time you look out a window at a tree, or walk amidst a forest, or pour some sweet maple syrup on a pancake, give thanks to the Creator. 

                                                           Church Forest in Ethiopia