20th November 2021
We appreciate the stature and seasonal changes in many of our trees; the shade and protection they provide, not only for human kind , but shelter and safety for birds, insects and small creatures; the myriad of life they support even when they are fallen, continuing to support other life forms as
they slowly break down and rot.
Through their roots you created them to communicate underground using a fungal network, and through their leaves use pheromones and scents. They conserve precious resources such as sugar, nitrogen and phosphorus. Many medicines are derived from trees, and they are efficient captors of carbon, keeping it from the atmosphere. We have so much yet to learn about them.
We pray for many places where trees have been, and are being, cut down for human use, and not replaced with new saplings. Acres and acresof trees are cut down in ancient forests daily, to make room for crops that feed our greed through industries such as cosmetics, and many foods. May we learn to take from nature only those things which we really need.
‘…let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them. Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy…’ Psalm 96: 12
