Tree of Life

This Sunday we will celebrate the Earth Day.
And we will do it by lifting up and back to life an image of the Tree of Life. 

You probably remember it from the opening chapters of the Bible.
But it is present in the Bible from the Genesis to the Revelation.
And it is something which our faith shares with the oldest civilizations.
In some of the earliest records we can find depictions of the Tree of Life.
 
It is a tree which bears enough fruit to satisfy every hunger,
a tree which brings fruit reliably month after month.
Some branches are blooming, some developing fruits, some fruits are already ripe.
It is a tree whose leaves provide medicines for every illness.
Humans as well as animals reach for their healing properties.
Indeed it is a tree which brings harmony into the conflicted nature.
It is a tree in whose branches birds built their nests,
a tree among whose roots foxes dig their burrows,
a tree whose cooling shade invites and shelters everyone.
We can even extrapolate this image of a tree with a wolf resting with a lamb,
a tree in whose shade a calf, a lion and a bear can snooze together,
a tree under which a baby can pull a black mamba by its tail.
It is a tree which can be cut down and yet it will springs up back.
 
Ancient and medieval theologians and artists were fascinated by this image.
Unfortunately, modern people generally neglected it.
They did not know what to do with it.
It looks so mythical, so foreign, so unreal, so dream-like, so impractical.
But all these characteristics are its best and most powerful properties!
Ancient people and ancestors of our faith knew one important thing:
Only if we open our eyes for the impossible, it might become possible.
 
If we want to survive on our blue planet Earth, we have to dream dreamy dreams,
we have to imagine home and healing for all creatures,
we have to aspire for harmony beyond our current reach.
God planted the Tree of Life into human minds for a very good reason.
Join us this Sunday for the Earth Day worship celebration.
Help us to bring back to life this powerful archetype of the Tree of Life.

A ram guarding and/or nibbling on the Tree of Life,
a sculpture from the ancient city Ur dated circa to 2500 BCE.