Trees. I’m thinking a lot about trees these days. I just finished reading Finding the Mother Tree by Suzanne Simard. It’s a fascinating read about the complex and interdependent circle of life that exists right beneath our feet. In the telling of the story of her life, she illustrates just how deep this interconnection runs. paralleling the role of the Mother Tree in nurturing the forest with the role of how families and communities nurture us as human beings.

The trees are always responding to each other, communicating with each other, and always nourishing each other. The ecosystems around us are built on relationships and the stronger those relationships are, the more resilient the forest, the organization, the community. The trees are a model of how we are stronger together, knit together by the interconnectedness of our very being.

This fits right in with the spiritual path that I have been on for many years – using the cycles of the earth as a model for the spiritual work we are called to do. I can imagine my roots going deep down into the rich soil where the roots of so much life right now are just beginning to wake up after a long winter’s sleep. I can see it all around me as I watch the greening of the limbs of the trees – some lime green and others with a deep red hue – that signals the return to the new life.

During these times of unprecedented change, let us remember that life is always adapting and changing. We are constantly responding to one another and the environment. Our success is only as good as the strength of the bonds we have with each other. This is what helps us to survive, to grow, to thrive!

So, my simple invitation to you now is to connect with a specific tree in your yard, your complex, or a park that you walk. Take time each day to imagine linking into the network of the roots of that tree, and then with the roots of the other trees nearby. Feel the new life that signals the greening in her roots infuse your body and just rest. Just be. Reflect on what you know now that you didn’t know a year ago, and on what ways this new growth is encouraging you to know who you are on a deeper level.

And when you feel connected there, imagine connecting with the roots of each person who belongs to the community that we know and love called South Fraser Unitarians. Let us infuse our energy and our life into strengthening the bonds of this community for our continued growth and nurturance.