Two Trees

In the Garden of Eden were two trees. One was the Tree of Life. Eating from that tree brought nourishment and healing, and the quiet contentment that comes with knowing that all is well. The other tree was the Tree of Knowledge - all knowledge - both good and evil! They represented, then, a choice. Do I trust in the wisdom and nurture of God? Or do I take that drive to "know", and just run with it? We all know the answer to that original story. They chose to know. And the results have been catastrophic.

It seems to me, in our current age, that we are again faced with that same decision. We live in a time when knowledge spans its fingers across the globe! First came the internet - all the knowledge we could ever want at the cue of a question or keyword. It's branches spread to every node available, gleaning information from every source! There is very little that cannot be found out there. And it's generally available to all of us.

Then came the era of transportable devices! Now we have all that information with us at all times!!! And it's so easy to sit and scroll through interesting little titbits in moments where our attention is not required on a necessary task. Our mind drinks it all in. We want to know. It is everything that the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil seems to represent. And it's there for us. Every minute of every day. All the good, and all the evil we could ever want to know.

And then there's the Tree of Life. It stands quietly beside the other tree. Mostly unnoticed. Because everyone is busy gleaning all they can from the Tree of Knowledge. It still brings nurture. And healing. And a quiet contentment for those who sit in its presence. But it takes being still in this restless environment. And that's hard for people who's minds are used to being constantly fed.

It takes a quieted mind - which is so hard in a noise filled space. It takes turning off from the knowledge feed. Letting the thoughts be still, so God can be heard. And when you rest in the shade of that tree, you learn to trust the One is is all wisdom. You learn to dwell in his goodness, as we once did in that garden. You find wholeness there. Instead of all the scrambled morsels pouring into our brains from that other tree.

It's been a bit of an insidious change. We weren't really aware of it happening, for the most part - this dependence on constant knowledge input. But in order to truly live, we need to disconnect from it! Give God a chance to reach us in some quietness. The "busy" is keeping us from him. From the wholeness found in the Tree of Life.

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