Advent Week 4 | Trees
“OUT OF THE GROUND THE LORD GOD MADE TO GROW EVERY TREE THAT IS PLEASANT TO THE SIGHT AND GOOD FOR FOOD, THE TREE OF LIFE ALSO THAT IS IN THE MIDST OF THE GARDEN, AND THE TREE OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL.”
GENESIS 2:9
God is good, all the time. Recognizing the foundational truth of divine goodness allows people of faith to call out evil and even dare to combat it with tenacious love.
Seeing the glory, tenacity, longevity, variety of the trees that surround me reveals God's goodness, all the time, when I am awake enough to pay attention to them. The tree of life in Genesis exists not only in the garden of Eden, but in my backyard and indeed all over the world. God's good creation provides and sustains life, abundant life, not merely survival. Trees clean the air and water, they provide shade and produce fruit, they mark the seasons and time. They are life-giving reflections of our life-giving God. They remind us that God is good, all the time. All the time, God is good.
This season many of us will put up a tree within the walls of our homes, string it with lights, and decorate it with ornaments for no purpose other than to enjoy its superfluous beauty. Why go through all the effort? What's the point? Perhaps we yearn to participate in God's creative, lovely, life-affirming, good creation in a way that defies whatever conspires to overtake the light and love of the One who sends Jesus Christ not to condemn the world but to save it. Maybe we, too, want to be over-the-top in our expressions of beauty that signal to those with eyes to see that God is good, all the time. All the time, God is good.
FOR REFLECTION
What reminds you of God's goodness? Is there something in creation that reminds you of God's good and life-giving presence?
During this Advent season, when we are called to be awake to God, what is giving you a sense of God's nearness?
Could your prayer today the call and response, “God is good, all the time”? How does repeating this truth color your perspective?
God, you are good, all the time. Your goodness resounds through creation and through every creature. You gift us with beauty so diverse and persistent that were we to notice all of it, we would be utterly overwhelmed by your life-affirming power. As we go about our day, grant us eyes to see the trees of life that surround us, giving thanks for their ability to provide food, shelter for animals, air for us to breathe, leaves and flowers that are breathtakingly pleasing to our sight. All the time, you, God, are good. Help us to recognize your goodness and make it visible to others.
Amen.