Story and photos by Jeannie Dortch.
The silence in me will love the divine silence.—Eckhart Tolle
My husband and I live far from the city in a community mostly inhabited by trees. Our nearest people neighbors are not visible, and, most of the time, silence is the loudest noise we hear. It is a peaceful existence in a place where we moved after our children were grown.
Walking regularly on our property brings me great joy and has offered me special moments to notice how similar and dissimilar we are to the trees that surround us. They are full of differences and idiosyncrasies too, but reside in close proximity with less enmity than we humans usually experience among ourselves. Lessons in getting along abound.
A lonely leader
I have noticed that trees grow in harmony with their neighbors, no matter the species. Short, tall, fat, thin, bushy or gnarled, they touch rather than shove, bowing to accommodate when necessary. The only dominance, that of height and size, comes naturally. Pride is not an issue. Some are able to bend in adverse circumstances while others rely on their roots to keep them secure in turmoil.
People fret over the grass being greener in other places. This is not a concern in the community of trees. They flourish right where they are, scattering their seeds and letting nature do the rest. The woods are a mixture of young and old, lovers, loners, and leaders, those from big families or small, in and out of fashion, as well as in or out of others’ business. Whatever traits I see in them, however, they all seem to reveal God’s glory and display the work of His hands (Psalm 19:1).
How easily trees adapt to their surroundings, accommodating space in the most efficient way. Just this simple observation reminds me to be less selfish and shortsighted with others.
Help us learn from nature, O Lord, from the natural community you have placed around us. Busy lives steal our ability or desire to contemplate the messages you send us through trees. How can the world say, “Where is God?” when you live and demonstrate your love and justice in every plant and creature on earth, including ourselves.
When the sun reveals its majesty at daybreak, it fills me and the woods with promises of new growth, a grace free for the taking. I absorb God’s love, the trees take in His light, but all of us receive our sustenance from the same source.
Mornings spent in the woods affirm the timeless lessons in the Bible. The circle of life is mimicked from season to season in each tree’s growth rings. None of us escapes death. But God has filled the Earth with nature to whisper the wisdom of living amicably along the journey. Like a lover who carves his beloved’s initials within an etched tree heart, God has inscribed all our names on the palms of His hands (Isaiah 49:16), a reminder that everyone and everything is His.
Below are more inhabitants of the author’s community.
Fear of letting go
Popping buttons
A nose for news
Fashion conscious
The bone yard
Lovers
Sick or well
First Things First 