A Fine Old Tree

Happy Spring Morning to you!

This has been such a week of tears. Beginning with the reflections in my last post and yesterday the loss of a fine, stately tree from my neighborhood.

I'm struck by its loss and realize how inextricably be are woven together with all of Earth.

I've lived in this building now for nearly 23 years, in three different apartments, but all of them facing our neighborhood at the rear of the building, and the tree has always been some part of my view.

I am not schooled in tree identification, so I am not sure what species this lovely, old tree was.

On one hand, I am hoping it was not destroyed to satisfy someone's capricious action. On the other hand, I dread the loss of more trees if it was infested with one of the diseases we've heard about.

It seems to me that its huge, green canopy was always the size it was when I woke yesterday morning, so it had probably reached its maturity many years ago. It spread its generous limbs over the fence that separates our parking lot from neighborhood houses. And, although I had never thought of it, it always filtered the light that floods my apartment. And now it doesn't.

So my world has changed in a way that seems only important to me, but the loss of a tree is symbolic of larger Earth changes. Reflecting, we can appreciate how much we count on the steadiness, the comfort of what we know best. So, while grieving the loss of homes, crops, businesses; while we say goodbye to loved ones and try to find a way to go on without them, it is sometimes the single tree or another personal shift that brings our New Earth into focus.

The loss of this old friend is a reason to breathe and to offer gratitude for his/her life and all the gifts it provided us. The loss also reminds me of the abundant helicopter seeds it spread abundantly every spring, creating a clean-up project for our maintenance folks. Now it seems a small price to pay for all its benefits.

The light in my world is changed forever. And I think about all those areas in our own country and so many other countries where acre after acre and mile after mile of destruction has changed the light and the quality of life for thousands of people. My loss is small in comparison. But any change that affects our personal world calls for grieving to honor the value of what was. The grieving moves us forward, breathing into the next change and supporting Earth in her shedding and growing.

Honoring, grieving, moving forward, we observe all the unique ways we are Becoming.