Putting Down New Roots

A fitting expression for people moving and settling into a new location is “putting down roots.”  Since our move to Wooster in October, this expression has a special meaning to Abby and I.  Let me explain how we have literally “put down roots” of a special tree that was given to us as a parting gift when I retired from Cedarville University last year.

Near the end of Spring Semester, 2011, when we were planning to sell our home during the summer and move to Wooster, OH, the campus environmental stewardship organization, Pro Terra Forma, gave us a little potted Pawpaw tree (Asimina triloba).  What a fitting gift from beloved students who were conscious of the value of trees which serve both mankind and creation as air purifiers, air conditioners, sound blockers, sound-makers (wind in the branches and musical instruments), providers of habitat, housing, and food; and are a source of aesthetic beauty in the landscape.

Because we had hoped to move within a couple of months, we nestled the potted Pawpaw in a pile of old potting soil in a partially shaded environment preferred by this understory plant species.   Little did we know that this “temporary” location would become home to the Pawpaw for the whole summer, fall, and winter as God seemed to be answering our patient prayers with a message of “slow down and wait for My timing.”

As the chill of Autumn days came on in 2011, we felt the chilling of the housing market and were resigned to the fact that we would be living in Cedarville Township for the winter.  Little Pawpaw dropped her leaves and I added some extra mulch to protect it for the cold of winter.

With the warming of Spring, the prospects for the sale of our home warmed, and by July, we were thankful to have contracts for the sale of our home as well as a contract to purchase a home in Wooster.  When moving days came in early October, we did not forget our tree friend who had grown a few new limbs.  We enjoyed a “moving ceremony” assisted by Tim Clark, the new owner of our home.  Together, we potted up Pawpaw for its ride to Wooster.

After a tending to a long list of “moving responsibilities” (Maybe you can relate?), we transplanted Pawpaw from the plant pot to the Wooster soil of our back yard at 1041 Curtwood Drive.  We again remembered with thanksgiving the students who gave us the gift.  We also reflected on our loving God Whose timing was perfect to allow us more time to fully adjust to the idea of leaving our Cedarville spiritual family and friends.

We hope that Pawpaw’s roots will grow and prosper so the tree can add its many “tree benefits” to our landscape on in the years to come while we nurture it, and then beyond.  Likewise, Abby and I hope that we will be good stewards of God’s provisions to us now that we are here so that we can enhance the Wooster community and those with whom He brings us into contact.

Thanks to so many of you for your friendship and prayers.  If you are in the area, please let us know so you can stop in and see where we are “putting down roots” for this new chapter of our lives.

Earth Day – Keeping the Earth with an Eternal Perspective

This month marked the 40th annual Earth Day, first scheduled in April, 1970. On that first Earth Day, my wife and I had just celebrated the birth of our son, Bradley. The Earth Day emphasis that year challenged me as a young father to consider ways to keep the beautiful “blue jewel in space” from slipping into an inhospitable future; and instead, provide a planet on which our son and his generation could thrive. On the 40th Earth Day, I was privileged to participate in planting a tree in memory of a friend.

As the annual Earth Day has come and gone each year since 1970, efforts toward “Earthkeeping” or creation care have been increasingly bolstered by a better developed science of ecology and a better developed theology of Christian environmental stewardship. Evangelical Christians, for over a decade following the first Earth Day, were suspicious of those who called for the church to take the lead in caring for the Earth. Indeed, many such as Lynn White, Jr. went so far as to blame the Judeo-Christian teachings and practice for the environmental crisis.

Today, increasing numbers of evangelical Christians are learning to integrate their worship with their daily walk with acts of love, care, and benevolence toward their neighbor and on behalf of God’s creation in accordance with the dominion stewardship responsibility. To illustrate this concept, let’s return to my earlier mention of planting tree in memory of a friend on Earth Day.

For approximately 15 years until his death in 2009, it was my privilege to know Dr. Michael Horton, a beloved veterinarian and conservationist in Fairborn, OH. His passion was to restore and enrich landscapes for the benefit of soil, water, and creature conservation. To accomplish this goal, Dr. Horton motivated many volunteers over the years, including student groups from Cedarville University, other local universities, and various citizen organizations. to plant trees suited for landscapes needing restoration – wetlands, hillsides, disturbed areas, an such like. This Spring, Fairborn and surrounding communities enjoy the budding and blooming of thousands of trees due to his efforts.

And so, on this Earth Day, we gathered on the Cedarville campus with his wife, Marcia, her brother, several dear friends, and students of the Pro Terra Forma creation care organization to plant a lovely, 20-foot red oak in honor of Dr. Horton. After a brief dedication, and the shared act of shoveling soil around the tree, we gathered in a circle around the tree to offer a prayer of dedication. At that moment, I realized that we had expressed our faith at once in multiple dimensions.

First, we had connected the tree roots to a specific “place” in the soil of Earth from which water, nutrients, and anchorage would be provided so that this tree could grow mightily with its limbs lifted like arms and hands in praise toward heaven. Second, our planting effort was an act of faith in the Providence of God Who alone can cause growth of the tree through His provision of the essential components from soil and atmosphere.

The human action of planting and nurturing the tree, combined with God’s Providential supply of sunlight and water from above, makes possible a divine-human cooperative that may enable this red oak to grow into a massive specimen over the next century or more. Meanwhile, it brings joy and gladness to those who will gather beneath its branches.

Finally, as this tree grows and shades the plaque placed in memory of Michael Horton, we will be reminded not only of a dear friend, but we will recognize our smallness and finiteness. Trees remind us to “number our days” because they may live for centuries after our lives on Earth have ended. Thus, tree planting can be an unselfish act when completed with the intention of serving future generations. Furthermore, trees serve the rest of creation through absorption of carbon dioxide, pollutants, dust, damaging winds, and unwanted sounds.

Acts of creation care take on eternal significance and become acts of worship and faith when combined with a servant spirit toward our friends, neighbors, and the Earth. And with the psalmist, we can exclaim:

Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice;
Let the sea roar, and all it contains;
Let the field exult, and all that is in it.
Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy
Before the LORD, for He is coming,
For He is coming to judge the earth.
He will judge the world in righteousness
And the peoples in His faithfulness. – Psalm 96:11-13