Among the trees on Earth Day 2021

mrymntcpw
Apr 22, 2021
2 min read

When I Am Among the Trees

When I am among the trees, especially the willows and the honey locust, equally the beech, the oaks and the pines, they give off such hints of gladness. I would almost say that they save me, and daily. I am so distant from the hope of myself, in which I have goodness, and discernment, and never hurry through the world but walk slowly, and bow often. Around me the trees stir in their leaves and call out, “Stay awhile.” The light flows from their branches. And they call again, “It’s simple,” they say, “and you too have come into the world to do this, to go easy, to be filled with light, and to shine.

-Mary Oliver

A special thanks to Mary Anne Orcutt for introducing me to this poem.

The sciences of botany, biology, and physics have taught us that humans, along with all species that dwell on this Earth, are a part of a global bio-spiritual embryogenesis. As such, we must cognitively recognize that as a whole (let’s call it “Ο”) if we destroy any part, we are damaging ourselves. We must, therefore, muster all our creativity, commitment, and labor to preserve the life forces that brought us into existence. We must cherish our streams, rivers, oceans; we must appreciate the air that we breathe and strive to keep it clean and clear. We must harness the energy in the sun and wind, and stop raping and polluting the soil. We must cherish our trees and work to replenish them when they are downed. We must have a reverence for all living creatures.