The Green Giant

A few minutes ago every tree was excited, bowing to the roaring storm, waving, swirling, tossing their branches in glorious enthusiasm like worship. But though to the outer ear these trees are now silent, their songs never cease. ~John Muir


 The green giant stands tall, arms reaching to the skies, ever reaching, ever stretching but never grasping, longing for the merest touch, the gentlest embrace. It's as if the giant wants to soar to the heavens, wants to break free of it's earthly bonds and commune with the sky, fly with the birds that take refuge in it's outstretched arms day and night, summer when green leaves provide shade against the agonizing heat of the noon day sun, winter when icy winds tear into it's brown flesh. I believe this giant would joyfully roam the world, follow the sun from East to West if it's feet were not buried deep into the ground, anchored into the earth seeking the precious, life giving, water, if it's long reaching roots were not necessary to hold the earth together. The giant lives, grows, dies looking at the same landscape to which it was born, watches the seasons change, counts the decades, senses the tic, tic, tic of time as the centuries pass.

The green giant always gives, gives unselfishly, never asking anything in return. She gives us oxygen to breathe, oxygen that creates a permeable shell around world without which life could not survive. She gives us shade from the elements, feeds us with her fruits and, when she dies, warms our homes as she burns in our fireplaces.

Sometimes, when the wind blows, we can hear her whisper. If we listened closely, intently, tuned our ears to the words of the trees, I am sure she would tell us of the long, long life she lived, would sing to us of the birds that nestled in her hair. I am sure she would tell us the secrets of life for  one who gazed upon the world for as long as she, one as ancient as she would surely have had time to think deeply, to understand the meaning of life. And I think she would need just four words to explain all she has learned. Those words would be, "I Am" and "Just Be".