I marveled at the life that the two pine trees that sit in front of my living room window hold. They are towering and majestic in the midst of a concrete strip where the latest development of condominiums have gone up. I wonder how much longer I can stay here and my heart is yearning for the prairie where I can breathe in the wide open spaces and joyfully take in the jeweled skies.

I call them both the “tree of life” and I’m reminded of the most ancient symbolism which for thousands of years has been used in sacred literature to describe man’s connection with the divine. It seems as if each day I wake up and consider the life that is teeming in front of me within the branches and I pray that I am one step closer to gaining access to the tree of life, or enlightenment!

There’s a pattern of sharing these trees I’ve noticed as the squirrel hurriedly runs off one branch while the black raven timely lands where the squirrel was dining moments ago. The spider webs sparkle after a morning rain and the branches appear to be laden with diamonds. The hummingbirds ruby throats flash on the bottom leaves and look like miniature raspberries ripe for the picking.

We are all in essence part of the cosmic or world tree and does it not symbolically span all our worlds of existence?

Ahh these trees! What beautiful thoughts they inspire.

Copyright Es-tee Miller

“For me, trees have always been the most penetrating preachers. I revere them when they live in tribes and families, in forests and groves. And even more I revere them when they stand alone”… Hermann Hesse