I love the Celtic concept of “thin places” — places in which the veil between heaven and earth is tissue-paper thin .... places where God seems as close as your own breath. Many places on earth are widely recognized as “sacred.” We have visited the “holy” islands of Iona and Lindisfarne in Scotland, the ancient burial mounds of Newgrange and Carrowmore in Ireland and Glendalough, the ruins of a monastic community dating back to the 6th century in the Wicklow mountains south of Dublin.
And YES — one truly CAN easily feel whispers of Divine presence in each one of them! BUT — right in our own backyard — when I stand in front of our amazing crabapple tree, I can also feel the presence of the Sacred....
While ALL trees are amazing, this one especially speaks to me — because while the hole in its trunk gets bigger and bigger every year, the tree just keeps going — growing AND blooming! It has lost numerous branches over the years and arborists have said it should be taken down. NOPE. Not on my watch. This tree inspires me every single day . It stands tall, deeply rooted and reaching for the sky, proclaiming LIFE! despite the fact that it clearly has issues. Bees love its Spring flowers and birds and deer love to eat the crabapples. And almost in anticipation of the day when it topples, new shoots are sprouting from the bottom of the trunk which could eventually grow a new little tree.
God speaks to me through this tree, whispering —
“Keep blooming where you are planted... sink your roots deep into the ‘soil’ of my LOVE and you will continue to thrive — no matter what... “
This Sunday’s anthem (click here to listen) is a wonderful reminder for us to do just that ! The text, based on Ephesians 3: 17-19, reads:
“May your roots go deep into the soil of God’s marvelous Love
And may you be able to feel and understand, as all God’s children should,
How long, how wide, how deep and how high Christ’s love truly is...
And so, at last — you will be filled up — with God’s own Self.”
AMEN and AMEN