A Trees Testimony to Growth

True Devotion

Psalm 1 (NIV)
1 Blessed is the one
who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
or sit in the company of mockers,
2 but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
and who meditates on his law day and night.
3 That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither—
whatever they do prospers.
4 Not so the wicked!
They are like chaff
that the wind blows away.
5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
6 For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.

         I go back to my memories of Anna to sort out what true devotion means. Anna lived way in farming community in the middle of nowhere. She was dependent on her daughter to take care of her basic needs due to the fact she lost both her legs to diabetes. She was not more than eighty pounds, willowy, more skin and bones than bulk with white wispy hair. At the time I visited she was in her nineties. She embodied what tree devotion is all about. At no time did I see a time when she was unafraid to grow.

         The hinge upon which Psalm 1 rests is an open door leading into a place of blessed devotion. Who wants to go to a place that is more trouble than it is worth? I can no longer straddle the fence, expecting blessedness to come out of nowhere. Blessedness from a biblical perspective is dependent on my perception of God. Anna loved her bible the limited access she had to the outdoors. Her bedroom window was open to greet what ever sights and sensations might come her way. I would always be greeted by a smile as I entered her room. Despite her handicapped condition she made the most of every opportunity she had to drink in the bliss that came her way.
         The allusion to a tree planted by streams of water in verse three of Psalm 1 speaks about the possibility of everlasting connection with God and all creation. The tree sits by water perpetuating growth. People are like that tree, in so far as they sit and refresh themselves in the water of the Word. The tree in the Hebrew lore represents nature, while the man is a potential ruler of a natural abode. In Genesis we read about the fruit of the tree of knowledge that Adam and Eve were told not to eat. Once they disobeyed the command they gave away their position of dominion in relation to God's creation. Anna lived out a celebration of God's handiwork as the breeze wafted through the trees into her bedroom window. She loved to look out at the humming birds that were feeding. She could have been miserable. She chose instead to bear witness to God's rule, blessing others with her blissful countenance.

         The reference to chaff in verse 4 on the other hand focuses on what it means to be like the refuse of the corn or wheat. The chaff is the casing of the grain, not useful for anything and is therefore left to blow in the wind. The chaff is like a person who has become a bad weed. At one point he/she had a life filled with purpose and meaning. Over time that bodily shell is becomes like chaff when the rule of sin is added to the equation. No one can live effectively without being in relation to the Creator of all things. Once out of relationship with the creator, they are alienated from creation. Without God a person lives only to die. They might as well be blown away.

         In the person of Jesus all this is the idea of eternal growing and persons ruling come together. Jesus died on a tree (the cross) to share what it means to be connected to all of life. For those in the Roman World the cross revealed the impotence of men. God's power was revealed in allowing all men to see the greater reality of being risen from the dead. Jesus death on the cross reveals how the cross/tree nurtured by Christ's blood becomes a new source of nurturing God’s rule in and through us. At the very end of her life Anna asked to look at the grave stones of family and friends she missed. She died shortly after viewing all the gravestones. She knew what it meant for others to give up the seed of their life for someone else. I Corinthians chapter 15 was a scripture that was used at Anna's funeral to emphasize this reality. "What you sow does not come to life unless it dies...".We are buried a bodily seed and are raised with Jesus into the flowering beauty of eternal glory". The evidence of the tree growth in our innermost being is a wonder to be marvelled at by all.
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