Chapel Matters
Recently in assembly we heard from Alex Rinaldi, the artist who created the Tree of Life in our new stairwell. As she spoke about the meaning of it for our lives, I was reminded of how important trees are in the Bible; other than God and people, the Bible mentions trees more than any other living thing! There is a tree on the first page of the first book of the Bible – Genesis – and on the last page of the last book of the Bible – Revelation. Every major event that happens in the Bible has a tree, branch, fruit, seed, or some part of a tree marking the occasion.
In the Old Testament, at the very beginning, God makes all kinds of trees grow out of the ground, trees that are “pleasing to the eye and good for food,” and in the middle of the Garden of Eden were two special trees, the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Later, Noah is given an olive branch from a dove after the Flood; Abraham and Sarah sit under an oak tree to receive God’s promises; and Moses stands barefoot in front of the burning bush out of which God speaks. Psalm 1 tells us that those who trust on God will be like “trees planted by streams of water, yielding fruit in their season;” and Isaiah describes how when we seek God, “all the trees of the field will clap their hands.”
In the New Testament, we find out that before starting on his ministry, Jesus is a carpenter, working with wood. Then during his ministry, Jesus declares that the Kingdom of Heaven grows from a tiny seed into a mighty tree in which birds nest, and Zacchaeus climbs a sycamore tree to catch a glimpse of Jesus in the crowd. Then, after the Last Supper, Jesus prays amongst the olive trees in the Garden of Gethsemane before he is arrested and then crucified on a wooden cross. After Jesus rose from the dead, he was even mistaken for a gardener!
Then at the end of the Bible we hear about the city of Heaven, in the middle of which is the Tree of Life – probably the same one that was in the Garden of Eden – but now in the centre of a golden city! Its leaves are described as being for the healing of the nations, perhaps symbolic of the peace and reconciliation we hope for in our world.
From beginning to end, God has blazed a trail of trees through the Bible, and so it is very cool that we have our very own special artistic one here at school! Trees are transportive, meditative, evocative, grounding, inspiring, life-giving, amazing, and spiritual. God loves trees, and so should we!
Dr Gillian Townsley
Chaplain