Those Tantalizing Trees  

Source: 123RF

Sometimes a tune gets stuck in my head, and I find myself singing the song over and over again. Today I was happily singing, “I think that I shall never see, a poem lovely as a tree…”

The poem “Trees” was written by Joyce Kilmer, and put to music by Oscar Rasbach in 1922. Singing that song resurrected memories of the tropical trees in our garden in Bombay, India when I was growing up, a long, long time ago.

As my mind’s eye now travels around that garden, I can see the tall coconut tree, and trees laden with fruit: guava, mango, papaya, chickoo, jackfruit, custard apple, and pomegranate. I was in a paradise, and never knew it!

Being an adventurous child, I got into one situation after another, much to the concern of my mother. The guava tree enticed me to climb up its sturdy limbs and peer out between the branches at the world below. There I could munch on the juicy fruit in peace, till I was discovered.

That tree happened to extend over the flat-topped garage, so onto it I would jump with great joy. From that perch I often leaned over and “stole” the ‘love apples’ from the neighbor’s tree. I was not a monkey, but jumping from tree to tree was exciting.

When I arrived in North America, my first glimpse of a maple tree with its multi-colors in the Fall, forced me to stop on campus and exclaim in delight.

I watched the trees slowly going bare, falling asleep in the winter, waking up in the Spring, and waving wildly in the summer breezes. The way the branches of the trees bent and swayed, offering shade and shelter, and witnessing the seasons of life was truly poetic to me.

As I went on singing the lyrics, “…A tree that looks at God all day, and lifts her leafy arms to pray…”  made me think of some significant biblical stories that have happened around trees. Stepping into the Garden of Eden in Genesis, the trees there, were “pleasing to the eye and good for food.” (Gen 2:9)

Yielding to temptation, Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, and sin entered the world. It took many years of struggles till the Chosen People were redeemed by Jesus on a cross, a tree of salvation.

Still in Genesis, I mused about Abram who “moved his tent and came and dwelt by the oaks of Mamre, which are in Hebron, and there he built an altar to the Lord.” (Gen 13:18) I then drifted to the invitation to be the person who “is like a tree planted near running water, that yields its fruit in due season, and whose leaves never fade. [Whatever he does, prospers.]” (Psalm 1:3) Yes, being deeply rooted in God does produce fruit that will last.

The song stayed with me as I continued my walk through the Bible. I love the story of reluctant Jonah who ran away from God’s call to tell the Ninevites to repent. In a great teaching moment, God actually protected Jonah under a tree!

Ah, but the New Testament was beckoning, and I found myself in Jericho at the foot of the sycamore tree that Zacchaeus climbed to get a glimpse of Jesus. When I stood under the spreading branches of that tree, I remember our tour guide waxing eloquent about the faith of this man short in stature, whose desire to see Jesus, earned him a meal with his honored guest in his own house!

However, it was on the Mount of Olives in the Garden of Gethsemane that I was lost in wonder at the age-old gnarled olive trees. Perhaps these trees saw Jesus’ agony before his passion?! Whether they did or not, this was holy ground, and I absorbed it like a sponge. Midst the godly moments, there was poetic beauty. I recall Kahlil Gibran saying, “Trees are poems that the earth writes upon the sky.”

Recently I was given a gift, Thomas Merton’s “When the Trees Say Nothing.” Enclosed are his writings on nature, which are a manifestation of the divine. Here he writes, “How slender are the bodies of the young black oak! With one brush you could make them beautiful, on paper, but that would never be what they are.”

Elsewhere Merton says, “A tree gives glory to God by being a tree. For in being what God means it to be it is obeying [God]. It “consents” so to speak, to [God’s] creative love. It is expressing an idea which is in God and which is not distinct from the essence of God, and therefore a tree imitates God by being a tree.”

When looking over the Genesee valley, Henri Nouwen exclaimed that he, “was dazzled by the bright colors of the trees. The yellow of the hickory trees, the different shades of red from the maples and oaks, the green on the willows – together they formed a fantastic spectacle.”

Gazing in awe at the pink blossoms on the crabapple trees leaning over our fence, I sang along with Mario Lanza’s soulful recording, the end of the song that had haunted me all day.

“…Poems are made by fools like me,

but only God can make a tree.”

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Viola Athaide, a student of Theology, is actively involved in parish life, leading Bible courses, the Prayer Group, and the Ministry with Maturing Adults.

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15 Comments
  • TEODORA S. LA MADRID,ofs
    Posted at 01:41h, 15 October Reply

    Dear Viola,
    In 1952, I attended a school in Manila. with the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary. The garden had pine trees. It was amazing because we were taught about this song/poem, A Tree! Signficantly, we learned the meaning of the poem, “how the leafy arms to pray” and “only God can make a tree”.

    You led us on a bibilical journey from Genesis: Adam and Eve, Abraham, Jonah and the Ninevites’ repentance, New Testament, Garden of Gethsemane, Zaccheus on the Sycamore Tree. Then, the writings of Thomas Merton on Nature– with Fr. Henri Nouwen’s dazzled by bright colours of trees… but the truth is “Only God can make a tree”!
    Thank you so much for sharing with us your experience from childhood to the present time of your life. God bless you for evangelizing us about the Word of God! I am praying for your continued studies and to further reach all of us through the Scriptures. Peace and Good!

  • Lorraine Majcen
    Posted at 08:55h, 15 October Reply

    Thank you Viola! I am touched by your article, on one of my favourite creations of nature. Scripture comes alive for me, as you take me along different scenes. What a great gift from God, to be able to unpack the knowledge you have been given to share. I am grateful.

  • Peter bisson
    Posted at 09:50h, 15 October Reply

    Thank you Viola!

  • Lalita Figueredo
    Posted at 10:32h, 15 October Reply

    Viola, as you are aware .. I have always been drawn to trees, plants and flowers since I was a little girl .. and I so appreciate this beauty of God’s creation in varied gardens, woods and forests and settings throughout our world! Loved your story and ode to trees!

  • suzanne renaud
    Posted at 10:38h, 15 October Reply

    Thank you Viola for this lovely recount. I mourn for all the trees that have been lost in the fires on the western coast of North America.

  • Carol von Zuben
    Posted at 10:48h, 15 October Reply

    How fortunate for me to have begun my day, by reading your contribution to igNation Viola. Thank you so much for this beautiful journey that you have taken us on . Viola, you are a very gifted woman who so generously shares your many gifts with all of us.

  • Edlyn de Souza
    Posted at 11:08h, 15 October Reply

    Echo every word that Theodora has said. Couldn’t put it better.
    GOD Bless Viola for Evangelizing through her talents in prose and poetry.

  • Dominicus Susilo
    Posted at 13:44h, 15 October Reply

    Dear Viola; Now you have opened my eyes to look at the beauty of tree, through the poetic yet spiritual angles. I am thankful for your sharing of your awesome writing. Deo gratias!

  • Sylvia Lee
    Posted at 13:53h, 15 October Reply

    Thank you Viola for sharing the tree stories ~~
    the scripture stories and especially your own stories.

    Thank you Lord for making the trees.

    Love and peace to you !

  • Silvia Girod
    Posted at 18:13h, 15 October Reply

    What a beautiful article truly a gift from God thank you and many blessings silvia and tonis

  • Jacqui
    Posted at 13:55h, 16 October Reply

    BRAUTIFUL!
    There is little that I can add to what has already been said. Thank you for sharing so much of your heart and soul with us all.
    God bless you.

  • Fay Vaz
    Posted at 00:00h, 17 October Reply

    I never thought about how many passages in the Bible speak about nature and God’s wonderful creation
    and you have laid it out so very well combining it all together.
    God bless you for sharing your talents with us.

  • Lorella D'Cruz
    Posted at 09:33h, 17 October Reply

    I agree with all the earlier comments of appreciation about Viola’s beautiful words. The tropical paradise in her own backyard as she grew up as a child obviously fostered her love of nature, and led to this wonderful piece tracing the role of trees in the Old and New Testaments, culminating in the ancient olive trees in the Garden of Gethsemane where Jesus prayed before He was crucified. Viola is to be commended for using her considerable literary talents to give constant praise to the Creator.

  • Christine Domingo
    Posted at 11:51h, 17 October Reply

    Thank you Viola for taking us on a spectacularly colourful journey from Old to New Testaments, sharing your own personal experiences, through to modern day poets and writers. Beautiful!

  • Lillian+M+Phelan
    Posted at 12:26h, 17 July Reply

    Viola, you teach us so much. As I read I envisioned you giving a homily filled with wisdom and love of creation. It would challenge others to take care of our earthly paradise. Thank you.

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