PLANTING KINGDOM SEEDS – WHAT TREES MEAN TO GOD
Smitten By Faith Issue # 00067 July 8th 2023
Jesus Christ himself spoke in a parable that the Kingdom of God can be likened to a forest of trees. In the famous parable of the mustard seed, Jesus says,
“…The Kingdom of Heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of garden plants and becomes a tree, so that the birds come and perch in its branches.”
Matthew 13: 31-32
Left : A small forest of white oak saplings before they grow big and tall
Centre : A forest of giant sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum) trees located in the Sequoia National Park in the USA. The big tree in the centre is known as ‘General Sherman’ which is at 52,500 cubic feet, the largest single tree in the world representing the perfect cross-section of height, width, and age.
Right : A young black oak forest
So too, the faith of mankind which starts as a very tiny humble mustard seed can grow into a big tree; and then from that to many many trees – later flourishing into a magnificent forest of trees ! Our faith and devotion are just like seeds becoming a tree which can multiply in great numbers in the Kingdom of God.
After God and mankind, trees are the most mentioned living thing in the Bible. Throughout the Old Testament, the stories of Israel and the promised land abound with references to trees and what they mean to God. The Biblical stories are stories of hope that in the end God’s kingdom would prevail and bring the Jews out of slavery whether it be Egypt, Assyria, Babylonia or Rome. Trees remind us to be fruitful and good and to live in the presence of God (Psalm 1). Jesus also used trees in many of His parables to illustrate God's truth and of course, for Christians, the tree is a constant reminder of Christ's death on a wooden cross.
I will just highlight here some of my favourite words from the Bible about trees; what trees reveal about God and what trees mean to God.
There are trees mentioned already in the first chapter of Genesis (Verse 2:9 ):
“The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.”
In the First Book of Psalms, David says, …”that person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither — whatever they do, prospers.”
(Psalm 1:3)
And in the last page of Revelation (22:2) :
“In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.”
In Proverbs 11:30 :
“The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and whoever captures souls is wise. The seeds of good deeds become a tree of life; a wise person wins friends. A good life is a fruit-bearing tree; a violent life destroys souls.”
And in the Gospel of Luke, Jesus himself says :
“For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, 44 for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. 45 The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.”
Luke 6:43-45
In today’s article I would like to speak about a very powerful, allegorical and unforgettable short story called THE MAN WHO PLANTED TREES about a man who single-handedly planted ACORNS which then grew tall and strong to become a huge oak forest of more than 100,000 oak trees in the foothills of the French Alps. Written in 1953 by JEAN GIONO ( 1895-1970) one of France’s beloved authors of the 20th century, Giono has written stories, essays, poetry, plays, film scripts, translations and over thirty novels, most of which have been translated into English.
Left and centre : acorn seeds
Right : an oak leaf in its Autumn colour
The acorn, or oak-nut, is the nut of the oak tree (Genera Quercus). Well known for its beautiful, lobed green leaves and tiny acorns, the oak is cherished across the world as a symbol of wisdom, strength and endurance. The oak tree is sometimes also known as the king of the forest and the lord of bio-diversity, there are over 300 species of flora and fauna which call the oak, home.
Above: Jean Giono
Although Jean Giono is much admired and has schools and streets named after him in France, today, putting aside any philosophical or theological commentary on his writings, I would like to write about one of Giono’s short stories which is also his best known work outside France and Italy, a story which has been made into a film and published in languages all over the world - ‘ THE MAN WHO PLANTED TREES’. Giono’s modern parable is a simple story about a shepherd who lived alone ( after the death of his wife and son ) high up in the mountains. During his around 50 years of quiet isolation, this shepherd quietly planted hundreds of thousands of oak trees. He planted acorn seedlings one at a time; he did the same task each day, one day at a time. He began planting trees, he said, because the land was dying for want of trees, and he had nothing more important to do.
Above : Some book covers of THE MAN WHO PLANTED TREES
One day, a man comes to the shepherd’s hut asking for a drink of water. Here is an excerpt from this tale :
“ Evening was approaching, and when he asked me if I needed a place to stay for the night, I gratefully accepted. We gathered his sheep and walked to his cabin in a steep valley.
After dinner, the Shepherd left the room and returned with a small sack. He dumped the contents – about two hundred acorns – out on the table. He scrutinized each one carefully and sorted them into piles. He discarded all with cracks. Through this process he eventually ended up with ten piles of ten acorns each. He placed this carefully selected piles of acorns into a bucket of water, then showed me to a corner where I unrolled by blanket and made my bed for the night.
The next day, he invited me to join him as he walked to the top of a nearby ridge. He carried an iron staff the thickness of my thumb and about shoulder height in length. As we reached the top of the ridge, the Shepherd began poking his staff into the ground, making small holes about two inches deep. Into each he placed one of his carefully selected acorns.
He was planting trees.
I asked if this was his land. It was not – he did not know who owned it. Perhaps it was common land, or owned by the parish. It did not matter to him. With the same care with which he seemed to do everything, he planted one hundred acorns.
At midday, he returned to his home for lunch. Afterward, he again sorted out one hundred acorns.
When I told him that in thirty years his ten thousand oaks would be a magnificent forest, he responded by saying that if God granted him health, in thirty years these ten thousand oaks would be but a drop in the ocean. “
Indeed, as mentioned in the beginning of this article, when we scatter seeds into the ground and the seeds start to grow and multiply, this garden which we plant will one day be a huge rich forest. When we scatter the word of God we are planting our kingdom seeds for the Kingdom of God. God's kingdom is just like an acorn seed that a farmer plants. That very small seed grows quietly and over time becomes a huge and sturdy oak tree.
“They will spring up like grass in a meadow,
like poplar trees by flowing streams.”
Isaiah 44:4
“He cut down cedars,
or perhaps took a cypress or oak.
He let it grow among the trees of the forest,
or planted a pine, and the rain made it grow.”
Isaiah 44:14
Left : At a secret location in California, the oldest oak tree and living thing in the world -Great Basin Bristlecone Pine (Pinus longaeva) known as Methuselah which is over 5,000 years old. Methuselah and other bristlecone pines grow so old because of their many biological adaptations to their harsh environment in the high-altitude and desert regions.
Centre : a beautiful oak tree in its brilliant Autumn colours
Right : an oak tree
Jean Giono writes in his book, ‘Blue Boy’,
“Remember, all of man's happiness is in the little valleys. Tiny little ones. Small enough to call from one side to the other.”
"When I reflect that one man, armed only with his own physical and moral resources, was able to cause this land of Canaan to spring from the wasteland, I am convinced that in spite of everything, humanity is admirable. But when I compute the unfailing greatness of spirit and the tenacity of benevolence that it must have taken to achieve this result, I am taken with an immense respect for that old and unlearned peasant who was able to complete a work worthy of God."
Jean Giono in ‘The Man who Planted Trees’
So, let’s all imagine ourselves to be gardeners and start planting our trees with our little seeds, hopeful and trusting in God that our words will bear fruit. Good things happen when we become God’s gardeners.
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