Those who have followed this blog from the start might recall the post "Entish". This present post might be considered Entish Part II. Several readers were unfamiliar with Ents, tree like shepherds of the forest in Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. My apologies.
I have been thinking about trees, trees and time. Naturally, this has been inspired by our walking through many miles of forests over the last week or two. More precisely it is was coming across a few very large chestnut trees in the region of Galicia that got me on this subject. (Some of you have seen pictures on my FB page)
Now I realize many of you have probably seen very ancient trees in your travels, perhaps redwoods in California or Olive trees in Israel. Interestingly, on the shores of Lake Huron near Tobermorey, Ontario you can find Eastern white cedar trees that are small, unimpresive, almost shrub like trees that are over 1000 years old.
Back to the chestnut trees. The ones seen in the photos here are near a town called Triacastela and evidently, they are around 850 years old. Triacastela means "three castles", however there are precisely zero castles in or near town. The story is that there were three castles, probably built by regional nobles or kings, but these were destroyed by Viking raiders in 986CE. It is not unreasonable to assume that the tree that dropped the chestnut which grew into the tree we photographed witnessed a few things.
That tree was around for the latter days of the Roman empire in this region. The Romans left behind several of the bridges we walked over in recent days. It "saw" the fall of that empire and the rise of other lesser powers including the builders of the three castles. It was present when the Norman Vikings invaded and destroyed said castles and were finally defeated at O Cebreiro. The present tree and its progenitor have been quietly dropping chestnuts on Galician soil from the time of the Romans to the time of Internet connections to the nearest farm house.
Somehow, passing by, or leaning up against such a tree makes one feel not only physically small, but temporally insignificant. Of course, I believe our lives are a gift from God, that they matter, that we have an impact on others and the world around us. We are made in God's image and loved by God in a fashion that can only be demonstrated by Jesus on the cross saying, "forgive them", so how could it be otherwise. However, an 850 year old tree with a girth of 8.5 meters (or 28 feet if that helps), helps sort a person out and put them in their place. It serves to remind one that things we stress over (our failures, our achievements political shifts, the daily news, etc.) are all probably less significant than we are inclined to think. Trees like this seem to whisper, in Old Entish of course, "slow down, you are very small, keep taking steps but worry less about getting anywhere."
It will be interesting to learn how this pilgrimage impacts your preaching. In my ministry I have a “tag” line…”Join the Journey.”
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