The trees
of the forest and the grasses moaned and cried aloud over the destruction the
man had done. Not only had he removed
their protective covering from the glade, but he had dug up the plant God had
placed there. The spot was now barren
and desolate.
God heard
the forest’s lament and He came and walked among the trees and comforted
them. “Will you punish the man for
destroying what you had planted?” the trees asked and the grasses
murmured. “No,” said God, “the man has
brought his own punishment on himself.
Watch and you will see.”
Over the
next several months thistle seeds blew into the clearing and planted
themselves, grew and flourished. Wild
Garlic Mustard crept in and filled the spaces between the thistles and the
trees. And Buckthorn rooted itself in
the soil and grew.
Sometime
later the man again walked the paths of the forest and when he came to the
clearing he was appalled. “Who has ruined
the work I did to clear this space?’
With anger he retraced his steps and then returned with a shovel and a
garden rake. He labored all day digging
up the thistles, the garlic and the buckthorns.
He dug deep, severing the roots of the garlic and the roots of the trees
along the edges of the clearing.
The man
piled the debris at the edge of the clearing saying to himself, “this is
organic material. It will compost and
then enrich the soil.”
Then the
man shouldered his shovel and rake and as he reached the edge of the again
cleared space, he said in a loud, and slightly angry, voice, “GOD BLESS THIS
CLEARING!”
* * * *
The pile
of thistles, garlic mustard and buckthorn rested quietly at the end of the
clearing, heating up as composition began.
The thistle blossoms matured, closed and began to make seeds, then
opened to the fluffy white tufts that have delighted children over the
ages. Soon the seeds were mature and every
breeze wafted the downy parachutes over the clearing and over the tops of the
trees. Some seeds settled onto the soil
of the clearing and others found new homes beyond the trees.
The
severed garlic roots each produced a new plant until the clearing was more
populated with plants than it had been before.
At the same time, the severed roots of the trees could no longer
transport nutrients to the branches and leaves of the trees ringing the
clearing and the trees began to yellow and die.
The man
once again walked the paths of the forest until he came to the clearing. He stood at the edge of the once verdant glen
and looked with despair on the rank weeds and the ring of dying trees. “What has happened? How can this be?” He cried aloud. The trees and the grasses murmured, but the
man did not have his ears open to hear their words.
The man
sank to his knees and with great anguish, cried out, “Oh God, what can we do
about this travesty?” He rose and
stumbled his way back out of the forest.
* * * *
The trees
at the edges of the clearing continued to die, alarming the adjacent
trees. The grasses did their best to
recover the glade, but the weeds were too strong and they were only able to
retain their foothold in a few places.
Summer
came with its blazing sun and long days without rain. Soon the trees at the edge of the one-time
glen were nearly completely dead. The
thistles turned brown under the glare of the sun and even the garlic
wilted. Only the trees deeper in the
forest survived as their roots went deep into the soil where there was plenty
of moisture. These trees sheltered the
grasses and other plants growing at their feet so that, while they drooped from
the heat, they continued to survive.
In August
great rolling banks of black clouds appeared on the horizon and powerful
streaks of lightening flashed out of the clouds. Shortly the bank of clouds was over the
forest and a powerful bolt of lighting struck the largest of the pines that now
stood dead at the edge of the clearing.
As the lightening seared its way down the trunk, the pine burst into
flames, its resin exploded in bullets of fire setting the dry vegetation in the
clearing on fire as well. Soon the
entire opening in the forest was ablaze.
The man
happened to step out of his home to watch the bank of clouds with the huge
bolts of lightening rolling toward him.
He saw a column of smoke rising from the middle of the forest. Alarmed, he rushed inside to alert the
authorities that the forest was on fire.
While the
fire crews gathered the equipment for fighting a fire in the midst of the
forest, the black clouds began to release their load of rain. Even as the fire crews made their way down
the fire lane into the midst of the forest, the fire in the glen was
dying. Only the trunks of the once
majestic ring of trees still smoldered, but as they burned through, the
remnants of the trunks and branches fell into the clearing and burned
themselves out in the ash of the other plants.
When the
great storm passed, as the sun shown on the forest the next morning, the trees
of the forest gazed on the once beautiful glen.
It was now a sodden mass of wet ash and fallen limbs. The trees and the grasses within the forest
sighed and waited for the God of all creation to continue to do the work He had
begun.
* * * *
It was some
time later that the man returned to the forest.
He wanted to see what destruction the fire has caused.
The man
walked to the edge of the clearing. A
blanket of ash still covered the entire area.
Even the fallen tree limbs and trunks were buried under the ash.
A great
moan escaped the man and he wondered if his beautiful forest could ever
recover. He felt helpless to make any
meaningful effort in the face of such devastation.
While the
man stood helpless at the edge of the clearing, another man made his way down
the path, from the opposite edge of the forest.
This man also stepped to the edge of the trees and surveyed the gray,
still sodden blanket of ash. “It looks
hopeless, doesn’t it.” said the second man.
The first
man turned and looked through bleary eyes at this older gentleman and could
only nod.
“But it
really isn’t hopeless, you know.”
“What do
you mean?” asked the younger man. “I
don’t even understand how all this could have happened.” And he hung his head
in despair.
“Ah, that
is easy. I have been observing all that
has gone on for these past several years.
Someone, probably thinking they were doing a good thing, removed all the
protective covering in this clearing several years ago. Even more tragic, they dug up the one plant
that was of greatest value in entire the forest. I suppose they thought it was a weed.”
The
younger man looked sharply at the older man.
Then he turned and looked back at the ruined clearing with horror on his
face.
* * * *
The older
man continued, “Clearing the opening in the forest allowed thistles and wild
garlic and buckthorns to establish themselves.
Then, again I suppose the man thought he was doing the right thing,
someone came in and cleared away the invading plants, digging up many of the
roots as well. What he apparently did
not know, every time he severed a garlic plant, it produced two or more new
plants from the roots still in the soil.
And he dug too close to the trees, cutting their roots which supply the
trees with nutrients. And he left the
thistles in a great pile where they could heat up and still produce many
seeds. He, no doubt, thought he was
helping restore the glen, but he actually made it much worse.”
“And now
this fire. I suppose it will never
recover.” The younger man’s voice was
hoarse with emotion.
“Oh, quite
the opposite.” The older man smiled and
gently laid his hand on the arm of the younger man. “The fire is the best thing that could have
happened to this little glen. It is
actually restorative. Look!” and he picked up a broken branch that lay
next to him. He gently pushed the ash
aside and the younger man could see tiny spikes of green already pushing their
way through the blackened crust of earth.
“See, the
fire has killed the thistle and the garlic, but the grasses, that have been
here all along, have very deep roots and they have survived the heat and flame
of the fire. By next spring, this
clearing will again be covered with waving grasses.
“And see
here,” he pointed with the stick at a burned fir cone, “the fire has released
the seeds that were tucked tightly within this cone. Some of them will also take root in the
nutrient enriched soil, for the ash is filled with nutrients that will nourish
them. Even as the grasses take back the
clearing tiny evergreens, and shortly after them deciduous trees, will
repopulate the edges of this clearing and it will become a glen once again.
“I hope
someday the man who brought about such ruin to this clearing will see how it
has healed itself. When God created this
place, He also created a way for it to be healed.”
The
younger man sobbed aloud. He could not
speak as emotions that he did not fully understand. Finally he whispered, “I am that man. I asked God to bless this clearing, but I
actually brought about its ruin.”
* * * *
Once again
the older man placed his hand on the arm of the younger man.
“No, you
did not bring about its ruin. See, I
have shown you that it will recover and be as it was before.
“You merely
made the mistake that so many humans make.
YOU decided what God needed you to do in this place when you began to
remove the protective covering. Too
often humans decide what they should
do for God, instead of asking God what He
wants them to do.
“When God
designed all of life, He made it with a balance. Humans have to live in balance with all of
nature - and with each other. It is hard
for humans to wait for God to show them what to do, how to live, how to treat
each other, but it is the only way that balance can be preserved.”
The
younger man sighed deeply, “I think I can see that now, I think I have learned
a great lesson, or perhaps, am beginning to learn a great lesson.”
The older
man smiled and gently squeezed the younger man’s arm, “Yes, I think you are
too.
“Ah, look”
and he pointed to the center of the ash covered clearing, “the plant that you
thought was just a weed is growing again.”
The
younger man peered intently at the place the older man indicated and he could
just see the tiniest tip of green poking through the gray blanket of ash. A look of joy suffused his face and he turned
to grin at the older man, but the man was gone.
The
younger man turned back to gaze again at the clearing. “May this clearing bless God and all who see
it.” he whispered. Then he turned and went home filled with great peace and
unexplainable joy.
amen