Under the Weeping Beech

A Place to Hang Up Your Hammock & Take Off Your Sandals

Welcome

It’s a rainy Tuesday here - the skies are gray and gloomy, but my knitted afghan is warm and snuggly. The house is still in a post-Christmas chaos as we slowly put gifts in their new homes and take the ornaments off the tree. As my love bug sleeps in, I’m getting a rare slow morning. My shoes are off and my soul is breathing deeply.

Under the Weeping Beech Tree

I first met the Weeping Beech Tree on the rolling green grounds of the Jesuit Center as I attended a silent retreat. Her sprawling branches enthralled and invited me, and her leafy curtains beckoned me to explore the rooms at her trunk. The branches hung low and high, creating an airy tree cave of sorts. I hung my hammock on some of the branches and crawled in. Sandals off, it became holy ground to me. A place to pray, and rest, and dream, and wait.

While I don’t get to visit that dear tree any more, artwork of her hangs in our home. It reminds me that daily moments are sacred and holy too; that in my home there are dreams to be dreamed and laughter to be had. I want this newsletter to be that: a medley of the hard and holy, the wonder-filled and the weird.

I was drawn to the Weeping Beech for these personal reasons, but I was curious to look into the symbolism of beech trees and what I found was confirmation. Beech trees are symbolic of “the revelation of experience” (John Matthews & Will Worthington) and beech trees are “considered to be one of the few truly holy trees in the wood. Prayers uttered under a beech go straight to heaven.”

I felt that in my times under the weeping beech - a closeness to the Father.

God,
As I take my sandals off,
help me to realize that holy ground
is here, now,
because I am in your Presence.

Guide me in the journey
as I hang my hammock up,
Resting in the canopy of the beech,
but even more so in your Protection. 

As I cross new thresholds,
grant me wisdom and knowledge,
Carrying wherever I go
The graciousness of your Peace.

Amen.

A Planted Seed

We took a First Day hike this week at one of our local state parks and we unexpectedly got to tour the education mansion. Watching a video on its history, I was struck by how the vision and implementation of two people turned acres of farmland into a beautiful pine forest. I loved this quote written in the building —

“A single white pine inspired the growing of a forest….Imagine what a single seed of knowledge could sow.” - Nolde Forest Environmental Education Center

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