Every great impact for the earth and all life that dwells upon it begins with a choice – the choice to make a positive difference by deciding to serve. As Isaiah 44:14 says, “He cuts down cedars or chooses a holm tree or an oak and lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest. He plants a cedar and the rain nourishes it.”
Where might we begin? How do we live into our desire to make a positive difference for the earth and all God’s creatures? It may be as easy as planting a tree. In addition to the benefits for Earth’s air, water and climate, planting trees helps build community. Studies have sown that when people come together to plant trees, it enhances their sense of pride, their connectedness and their neighborhood. Planting trees also develops stronger individual and communal environmental responsibility and ethics.
This summer, will you consider working with your town’s leaders to plant one tree, or two, or three? When we plant a tree and watch it bud, we add to the story of the earth, our family, our congregation and our community.
This message is excerpted from “Good trees of life” by Venice Williams in the May/June 2022 Gather magazine. Today we commemorate Boniface, Bishop of Mainz, missionary to Germany, martyr, 754.
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