“Trees are sanctuaries; whoever knows how to speak to them, whoever knows how to listen to them can learn the truth.”
(Today I talk about trees in two separate sections; one, my opinion on the religious aspect of the role of the trees and the other, a personal experience of the role of trees in my life).
AS we enter Holy Week, it is no coincidence that I am moved to talk about trees. The Bible is replete with tree metaphors signifying how essential trees are to human life and happiness.
Trees stand for life, growth and fertility in the Bible, reflecting the abundant blessings that God has bestowed on us. They remind us how divine providence has designed everything for us humans to thrive in the world.
I remember the many biblical passages with reference to trees– acacia, oak, olive, cedar, fig, among others. The tree most associated with Jesus in the Bible is the olive tree. At the foot of the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem is the small olive grove called Gethsemane, a favorite place for Jesus and his disciples to rest and pray.
The Garden of Gethsemane is where Jesus prayed in agony just before his arrest. It was also the place where Judas Iscariot led the authorities the night of Jesus’ arrest, leading to his Passion and Death, which we Christians commemorate in the three holy days of Holy Week — Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday, culminating in the glorious Resurrection on Easter Sunday.
Today, the Church of All Nations has been constructed in a section of Gethsemane, enshrining the ground where Jesus is said to have last prayed. A 2022 study showed the oldest trees in the garden to be about 900 years old and are recognized as some of the oldest olive trees in existence.
The spiritual significance of trees can be seen in every important stage in the Bible.
At creation, humans lived an idyllic life in the Garden of Eden. At the center of the garden was trees — the tree of life with its life-giving fruit and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil from which humans were not to eat.
Adam and Eve sinned by eating from this second tree. They brought sin to humankind and to the rest of creation. They were banished from the garden and from the tree of life. The ensuing story of salvation is to bring humanity back to the tree of life in a restored creation, which humanity could not partake of until after the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus.
The new tree of life provides hope of sustained life with God. In Revelation 22, we learn that the tree of life bears fruit 12 times a year, and its leaves are for the healing of the nations, another sign of God providing for humankind.
Psalm 1:2-3 tells us that drawing nourishment from God’s Word makes one like a strong tree. In Proverbs 3:18, wisdom is a tree of life that will lead to blessings.
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“I think that I shall never see/A poem lovely as a tree.”
These lines from the immortal poem “Trees” by Joyce Kilmer bring me back to my childhood when we were all made to memorize it. From that time on I have always been fond and mesmerized by trees.
One of the mysteries that have stayed with me since my childhood growing up in a small town is whether there are non-human beings alive in those trees.
Early this month an event at the Philippine Institute of Certified Public Accountants (PICPA) recalled for me the many stories of the mysterious beings residing in trees. The community development support committee chair of the PICPA Foundation, Flor Gorospe, invited me to witness the “hoisting ceremony” at the launch of its greening project. Flor related that aside from the balete tree, of which giant ferns were to be hoisted and placed among the branches, one of the species of the genus Ficus that stood inside the compound was a mango tree. For unknown reasons, the mango tree became lifeless and had to be removed. Staff from PICPA surmised that the balete was more powerful than the mango tree.
It is not unusual for us to hear stories of trees, especially the balete tree, being inhabited by spirits. When I was studying at UP, we were warned not to pass by Balete Drive in Quezon City late at night as many drivers told of seeing the figure of a white lady floating about the street.
One story that prevails until today in my hometown involved a pretty young girl who was possessed by some mysterious beings in an acacia tree. Annie (not her real name) was the illegitimate daughter of an American soldier and a local girl.
In school, usually at 3 p.m., the grade schoolers would tend to their vegetable plots located under rows of acacia, santol and caimito trees. Annie and her friends were overjoyed because their pechay plants were sprouting; they were singing, telling jokes and even dancing around their vegetable plots.
When she went home one evening, she started having fits. The doctor was called but could not find anything medically wrong. She was placed under observation for over a week but when the fits did not stop, she was brought to the city hospital in the capital. As she didn’t seem to improve, she was brought to Manila.
She never came back to the town.
We were to learn that she may have offended the spirits living in the trees or that some tree spirit may have been smitten with her beauty.
Juris Soliman, the head of the schoolbuilding projects of SM, has her own story to tell. She was overseeing the building the President Manuel Roxas Memorial Integrated School in Roxas City, and final touches were being made prior to its inauguration. The branches of a mango tree had to be cut down so the painters could finish the painting of one side of the school. The contractor himself volunteered to undertake the pruning of the branches with an electric saw. When he went up the improvised platform, he fainted.
Thinking that it must have been his age, a younger worker volunteered to do the cutting but again as he switched on the electric saw, the worker suddenly fainted. This caused panic among the workers. The following day, a native healer was summoned. He told them that the tree was angry and said that the painting of the building would never be finished. The healer made his apologies to the tree spirit on behalf of the contractor and started to burn incense as part of a ritual to appease it. They then slaughtered a wild pig (baboy damo) and offered it to the tree, splattering blood on the trunk. After that, the painting went on without any hitches.
Linda Atayde, who is from Zamboanga, says that every time they have activities around big trees, the townsfolk would always say, “Tabi!” asking permission to do these activities. It is simply a courtesy to the trees.
What does this mean?
I guess it’s payback time. For all the benefits we derive from trees, we have to do our share. Trees play an important role in our lives. They clean the air, provide oxygen, fight climate change, save water, help prevent flooding, provide food, provide habitat for wildlife and promote biodiversity, among others.
We must learn from their example of generosity and be reminded that if we receive something, we return that gesture by giving respect to the giver.
