Saturday, April 5, 2014

From my Nature Journal: Go Climb a Tree

It is a bit of a shame that something as lovely as a tree is associated with the death of Jesus Christ: a ‘tree’ is a lesser-known idiom in ancient Near Eastern parlance for a cross, that infamous implement of capitol punishment well-used by the Roman Empire. Of course, in the absence of the one or two-piece set of beams upon which a victim could be strung or nailed, a literal tree could be and was used for the purpose, thus the use of the idiom through the course of time. It is even used that way in the Jewish Scriptures, or what Christians refer to as the Old Testament.


It is a bit of a shame that something
as lovely as a tree is associated
with the death of Jesus Christ.

The cross became, for reasons obvious, a symbol of the Christian faith in the early decades of the Christian Era, an emblem that has stood so since. And by association, trees have also maintained their connotation, though less so.

Some years ago, my wife Gail and I began to notice the cross symbol as it arbitrarily and accidentally presented itself in nature, or in other random ways in which the symbol was not purposefully or particularly intended to be portrayed, and we began to photograph them. We have come to title this series of photos “The Cross Before Me,” using a phrase from an old song with which we both grew up, and we have dozens of shots in the series. Some of them are portrayed here, at least some of those that have been rendered by a tree.


There is a 17th Century ‘olde English’ song text that picks up the tree/cross image as well, while also associating it with another Old Testament text and image, that of a ladder. I sang this song in the Covenant Ministers Chorus years ago. Specifically, it is linked with an account in the life of the Jewish patriarch Jacob, who dreams of a ladder upon which angelic beings ascend to and descend from heaven. (See Genesis 28:10ff.) The inference expressed by this account is that God is present and accessible to us, and that God desires that we utilize this ladder/cross/tree conveyance to ascend and live with him in heaven.


Here is the old text, entitled “Ladder of Mercy:"

          As Jacob with travel was weary one day,
          At night on a stone for a pillow he lay.
          He saw in a vision a ladder so high
          That its foot was on earth and its top to the sky.

               Hallelujah to Jesus who died on the tree
               And has raised up a ladder of mercy for me,
               And has raised up a ladder of mercy for me.

          That ladder is long, it is strong and well-made,
          Has stood thousands of years and is not yet decayed.
          Many millions have climbed it and reached Zion’s hill,
          And thousands by faith are climbing it still.

               Hallelujah to Jesus who died on the tree
               And has raised up a ladder of mercy for me,
               And has raised up a ladder of mercy for me.

          Come, let us ascend, all may climb it who will
          For angels of Jacob are guarding it still.
          And remember: each step that by faith we pass o’er
          Some prophet or martyr has trod it before.

               Hallelujah to Jesus who died on the tree
               And has raised up a ladder of mercy for me,
               And has raised up a ladder of mercy for me.


          And when we arrive at the haven of rest
          We shall hear the glad words: “Come up hither. Be blest.
          Here are regions of light. Here are mansions of bliss.
          O, who would not climb such a ladder as this?”

               Hallelujah to Jesus who died on the tree
               And has raised up a ladder of mercy for me,
               And has raised up a ladder of mercy for me.

Who would not climb it, indeed! Please, do.

Have a most blessed Easter later this month!
~~RGM, from an earlier journal entry, 
adapted for my blog April 2, 2014

No comments:

Post a Comment