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Year Two, Day 311: My Favorite Monk, Trees and Me

Today I cleared the rest of my belongings out of my daughter and son-in-law's garage.  

 Packed it up and put it in storage. With the help of my handy nephew.  I spent some time yesterday organizing my storage unit,  so the rest of my boxes fit in nicely.  After the trip to storage, we went to our weekly pho. At our usual pho after moving restaurant, "Pho Kim" on SE 82nd near Division.

 But instead of pho, I had rice with pork and shrimp.  I felt like I needed to celebrate.  In our family, we have a meal to celebrate nearly everything in life. Finishing a move seemed a good enough reason!


But I felt sad.  I am going to miss my nephew.  Silly, I know.  We will see each other at family gatherings. We have a couple of birthdays coming up in April.  

 But we have had nice talks.  It's been nice to connect with him.  I worry that we will lose this connection.

 I am in a worrying mood today.  Perhaps after the news of my father's cancer.  Perhaps with this move.  Perhaps with my daughter's pregnancy and her impending move with her husband. Perhaps with my son...well...I am always worried about him.

 I probably should go back and read my blogs.  Like where I was walking, feeling the breeze, looking at the birds and the trees and asked God for help. And in the quiet I thought I heard him say, "I will take care of you."

 Funny, this morning as I walked to the bus to go to church, I felt compelled to take pictures of some of the trees along the way.  Lately I have been seeking out trees.  It comforts me. Is it because they are strong, still and quiet?  They feel like guardians.  

 I think I will start researching trees.  Perhaps I will be a tree watcher!  

 Here are some of the pictures I took earlier:
I love the vibrant red on this tree!

This tree is huge.  It would have been a good climbing tree for my brother and I when we were kids.  I love the moss.  It gives me a feeling of strength and stability.  It resembles an open hand...

I used to draw trees with this kind of spindly branches when I was young.  I wonder what she will look like in the spring?  I will take another picture in a few weeks. 

My Favorite Tree.  This is the one I laid my hands on during my prayer walk the other day.  Even gazing at this picture warms my heart.  Perhaps I should give him a name?
Out of curiousity, I did an internet search for "trees and spirituality".

And I discovered an article on AmericanForests.org concerning the book, Between Earth and Sky: Our Intimate Connections to Trees by Dr. Nalini Nadkarni.

Read this!

"Our strong connections with trees may be based, in part, on the fact that trees and humans share similar physical characteristics. We stand upright, have a crown on top and mobile limbs stemming from a central trunk. The pattern of the tubular branches (bronchi) in our lungs is similar to the root system of many trees.
At the physical level, trees provide oxygen, food and other material necessities, such as paper and building materials...At the spiritual level, trees help us become more aware of our connections with something larger than ourselves... Dr. Nadkarni suggests that trees call us to a state of “mindfulness,” where we become better in tune with and more compassionate toward our surroundings."
("People and Trees: An Intimate Connection" By Ruth Wilson

I searched for the book on Amazon, intending to download it to my Kindle, but it was only available in hardback and paperback. I hesitated. I just moved a truckload of books to a storage facility. I really need to keep an eye on my book hoarding.

But then I noticed other books on the subject of trees and spirituality and I gasped. There was a book by Thomas Merton!  My favorite monk. Years ago, when I had monkmania, I read Seven Storey Mountain and fell in love with him.

This book is called When the Trees Say Nothing: Writings on Nature, by Thomas Merton.  


Today, the fruit of the spirit I focused on was "kindness" (from Galatians 5:22-23).

As usual, the person I need to be most kind to is myself.  So, on that note, I am planning on heading to bed early with my new book.  

I hope to dream about trees.  

And heal my hurting heart.

Happy Sunday!

Talk to you tomorrow,

Zita :)








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