As I walked beneath heavy boughs that blocked the light, I stared above to see limbs leaning left and right, and as the wind swayed the branches, I thought I heard words. I stood still, solidly grounded, but my ears uplifted to catch the soft sounds. Sit in our shade, the trees said, and I sat as they told me, and I listened as these wooden giants spoke of ages past that they had seen and ages still to come that they would see. Their words were whispers, so quiet I thought maybe I slumbered in their shade, but in the silence I heard sounds that shook from the trees, and as the sounds fell to me below like acorns, they formed words I knew, but in a symphony I never had heard.
Like Socrates with his students, these ancient trees bade me listen to them, for they said there is much to learn, but fewer who wish to learn. And so the lessons began, contained for countless ages in these bark-covered tutors whose roots had bored to a depth so deep in the earth that no force could dislodge them, and whose branches touched the boundaries of the very heavens. Learn from us, they said, and you will have the sap of life. These, then, are the lessons in which they schooled me on that afternoon with a breeze in the air.
There is a spirit within all things that live, they said. Honor the spirit in whatever form it shows itself, for it is a life force that does not come from the world, but from outside the world. It can only be received. It is a breath borrowed from the one source that breathes out so that we who would live can breathe in. Do no harm to any manifestation of the spirit, for harm done to any part will take from the world a share of the spirit, never to be restored again.
One day, continued the trees, your breath will return to this source of goodness and you will breathe no more on the earth. The time between your first breath and your last breath is not yours to know, but it is yours to use. The spirit will put you on a path that brings you purpose and a place to stand, but also know you will be asked to leave both behind. The number of your steps has been counted, but you do not know the number. As you received your life as gift at the first moment, so you must return it as gift at the last.
Respect the smallest as you would the largest, spoke the trees as I listened, for both are alike because both are animated by the same spirit. The ant is no less important than the antelope, the flee no less important than the falcon, and the bee no less important than the bison. So it is with your brothers and sisters. Each one, however small or large, is important to the spirit that orders the sun to cross the sky and the stars to shine in the night.
Understand always, these gentle giants whispered to me, that all things are as interconnected as the intricate web woven by the spider. Seek to remove someone or something from your sight, even the smallest, and all the rest will stand less secure. The moon speaks to the ocean, and the sun to the plant, and the wind to the rains. No one and nothing exists without the other. Love the other, as if your life depends on it, because it does. Do not destroy what you cannot replace.
Then said the trees to me, see how the birds form a flock in the air above, and the ants work as a colony in the earth below, and the band of coyotes howl in unison through the hours of the night, and come to see that all creatures on the earth are called to be together. So, see your fellow humans as your family, for they are; and always find in them the likeness to yourself, for it is there, clear to the heart if not to the eye.
Make friends easily, the trees urged me, and do not demand from others what you yourself cannot give. The journey is best made with friends at your side, and when physical or spiritual injuries come from the journey, as they do to all, the friends you have made will be with you to bring help and healing. In a like way, be there to offer your shoulder to the friend who must lean on you until strength is returned to a broken body or a beaten spirit. It is a long and lonely journey alone and few, if any, can make it. Be a true friend and you will have true friends.
Do not put yourself above others, said the trees, because no matter how tall you stand, there are others still taller. And if there are not, then look at the stars in the night sky that shine brightly above you and know you will never reach them, however great you think yourself to be. Your bodies come from the sea and the earth and they will become water and dirt again. Remind yourself that, without the spirit, you are walking mud. So, cultivate humility in yourself and show respect to the others who must walk with you on the path of life.
Find a place of silence, a special escape from the loud sounds around you so that it is your space, and there your will hear in the quiet what your heart wishes to say to you. The trees explained to me that these always will be sacred words that spill from the heart because they are inspired by the spirit, but they are spoken only in silence. And, the trees warned, do not let the noises of the head scare away this messenger in your chest, for the heart is soft and shy and sweet, and fades into the shadows when the noise-makers of the world increase the volume, or when the echo chamber of your head blasts with loud thoughts or loud-mouthed distractions.
Allow gratitude to rule your heart and your head, said the trees, whether the sun shines or it is hidden by the clouds. Gratitude is a benevolent ruler, gentle and giving, gracious and graceful. For a person filled with gratitude has no room for bitterness, and a day begun with gratitude ends with a day to be grateful for. Every journey has bad days, they said, but a grateful heart makes the bad seem less pernicious, and finds good even in the disguise of the bad. Open your eyes to the good and it will fill your heart. Close your eyes to the good and your heart will be drained of the good. Gratitude is the gracious guest that you want never to leave your heart. Ingratitude is the guest that robs you blind.
Finally, these words came from the trees as they swayed in the winds. Learn to be patient. Be patient with others and be patient with yourself. We have stood upon the earth for more years than you will stand here, however many your years, and we have seen the steady movement of time across the ages. As saplings, we learned that nothing matures without the slow passage of time, without effort, without failure; and we also have learned that there is no precise timetable for the achievement of those things that will outlast us, such as love, forgiveness, or generosity. It is more important that we find them, rather than when we find them. Count the number of rings in our trunks and you will know we also have learned much patience.
Just as surely as the words had begun, so now they had ended. And the trees were silent and the wind caressed the branches no more. And as I stared at the sky that sprinkled light upon their leaves, I wished to hear more, to know more from these ancient instructors. But it was as if the trees had spoken all they would. I walked from beneath their shelter, a student wiser from their instruction, but still a student as I moved from one classroom to the next.
— Jeremy Myers
Sunday Brunch 