The end of the Easter Octave is here, and I hope each of you will continue to be filled with wonder and awe and joy and gratitude at the marvelous, mystical, monumental Resurrection of Jesus, the Christ…Alluluia!
I see that my last blog post was early January! My apologies for being a bit out of touch…I took a digital media break during Lent, and my primary focus from December until now has been to help my sister relocate to the Delta. She made it, but I’m sure feeling the ol’ saying, “I’m not as young as I used to be”…particularly when it comes to moving! But God sent grace upon grace and friends offered practical and spiritual support for the journey, and for that I am truly grateful.
The spring flowers were amazing…the cycle of life beginning again…farmers in the fields, big tractors on the roads, flood waters rising and falling in the big River…life in the Delta:)
But this week I am facing the loss of a friend within that cycle of life…not one of flesh and blood, but one that is solid and stoic, never wavering in purpose since we met years ago when I moved back to Mississippi.
A 100+ year old oak tree that shades the back side of my house is sick and dying…large dead limbs already threaten my garage, and my big friend is beginning to lean a little…I began to feel concern in my spirit about this six or so months ago, but I put off calling the tree man until yesterday. He pronounced his somber diagnosis and I knew he was right. I feel a deep sadness about the loss of such a majestic part of our creation, but comforted in knowing that another tree will be planted, take root and grow to offer its gifts to future tree lovers.
Thank you, old friend…you are a study in true faithfulness.
From the Basking Ridge Presbyterian Church in New Jersey, I found this Prayer for the Celebration of the Great Oak Tree written by Michelle Ortega in 2016, a beautifully piece with which to honor the Great Oak in my own back yard.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
the planting of the Lord, to display his glory.____Isaiah 61:3
“We gather today with a psalm of thanks and praise for the life of this Great White Oak. Though one day soon its physical body will be gone, it gifts a legacy of wisdom to us all.
This Great Tree emerged from a seed within an acorn, something small enough to be held within a child’s palm.
Let us hold each beginning, no matter how small or seemingly impossible, with great care and wonder, knowing that with each planting is the hope for something beautiful to emerge from hidden places.
The roots of this tree grow deep through the earth, anchoring the trunk to its origin, receiving nourishment from where it exists.
Let us also take root in the good soil of faith, family and community that we too may flourish, thriving wherever we are placed.
The branches of this tree stretch far and high, providing shelter and life for animals, birds and insects, shade for our skin and oxygen for our lungs released back into the air.
Let us reach as far and wide to our neighbors, to welcome them in when they have need and welcome them home when they return, and to fellowship with them in times of lament, rejoicing and rest.
The tree has decorated our landscape through countless seasons.
Bare and twisted branches wildly flail through winter storms, or sweetly collect snowflakes as they drift to the ground;
Tender shoots energize us in springtime renewal;
Jewel-tones rustle on warm summer evenings;
And yellows, reds and oranges pop and float like confetti over our heads in the autumn.
Let us acknowledge the need for beauty in our world, and to be bearers of beauty with our thoughts, hearts and hands.
This tree connects us through the generations to our history.
Let us remember that we each have a role, in great observable acts and in secret, quiet connections, in the stories that are woven through us.
But God, we also see that no matter how long it lasts, life here on earth is limited by the Great Mystery You place within us from the moment You create us.
While the life of this Great Tree has come to a close, in this time of great dividing lines, of violence and suffering, the symbol of the life of this tree unites us to witness an ancient Truth, a truth that points us both to an origin and something eternal, a force that is greater than our present circumstances.”
Until next time, friends….pax…
Tricia