Trees and people and churches

In Minnesota, it's hard to go anywhere without seeing trees.  This fall has been great for watching the the changes.  Each drive provides new beauty. My drive to tai chi this morning also helped me to see some truths about people in general and more specifically about churches.

I first noticed the conifers, still and always green, broad at the base and rising to a single focused point.

Then of course, I noticed all the different varieties of deciduous trees, those that change so dramatically as we cycle through the seasons.  I saw their sturdy trunks reaching towards the sky and then branching, reaching up and out in every direction, as if to embrace as much of the world as they could.  Many are completely bare now, having let go of all their leaves. They've retreated into themselves to be still, to be safe, and to wait for spring.

But not all the deciduous trees are completely bare.  Some are still fighting fiercely to hold on to those last few yellow and brown leaves.  I passed several weeping willows.  Although there were leaves on the ground beneath them, those willows - those weeping willows - still held most of their slightly green but yellowing leaves.  Because they still hold their leaves from which raindrops fall like tears, perhaps they wept the most in the rains of the last week.

Which tree is best?  Which is most beautiful?

The truth is that no one tree could sustain this rich ecosystem.  All of their gifts are needed.  The bare branches are no less beautiful than the evergreens.