In front of our main monastery building and chapel there are three magnolia trees that are between 90 and 100 years old. Earlier this week, while taking an afternoon nature-break, I spent some time hanging out in the shade of one of these enormous magnolia trees. It was a hot and humid summer day in Alabama, so the plentiful shade was a blessing. The location was not one that I usually visit, so it became an opportunity to look at life from a different perspective.
It didn’t take long to feel quite small next to this massive tree and among the giant limbs. I bent my head backward to see how far up the trunk my eyes could see. From my place on the ground, the top disappeared into the clouds above. Woah! That’s a tall tree! Is this how Jack felt next to that famous beanstalk? Is this how an ant looks at the world? My child-like imagination was struck with awe and wonder. “Gee, God, you’ve been taking care of this tree for a really long time. It has weathered lots of storms, blistering summers and frigid winters. Yet, here it stands on this good ground, witnessing to your steadfast love.”
Next, I took a step back and contemplated the huge branch in front of me. As my eyes passed along the limb, it seemed as if a forest of miniature magnolia trees grew along it–a crowd of siblings fighting for space in the bits of sunshine that filtered through the leaves! “That branch looks like the arm of God holding up the world like a mother holds holds her baby out of harm’s way. And, here I stand in the shadow of God’s wing. How cool is that?”
I glanced in a different direction, and my attention was grabbed by a single leafy twig aglow with a ray of sunshine. Surrounded by the dark shade, this young sprout found the spotlight. “Do you see me? I see you. God is loving me, and God is loving you.”
A neighbor to the leafy twig then caught my attention–a patch of fern growing along the trunk, also thriving in the filtered light and protected by the great canopy above. How beautiful for two very different creatures to coexist in peace and harmony. We can learn great lessons from nature if we stopped long enough to ponder them.
Hundreds of wonders surround us each day! Revelations of Divine Love are all around us all of the time. We only have to take the time and energy to cultivate our sensitivity to it.
By Sister Therese Haydel, OSB