The Wisdom of the Tree

By M. D. Sellers

This book is about those big green things outside. The things that have enabled the existence of mankind. The things that make our oxygen, provide our drinking water, and shade our car parks. Trees are certainly clever things, and they have influenced us in ways that are so profound that it is odd how we are often hardly aware of them.

This book shows that the link between man and tree is certainly real. But just how close are we to the tree? What is our real relationship?

The Wisdom of the Tree is made up of 365 eclectic passages inspired by trees. It includes astonishing natural facts, personal philosophies, trees mentioned in the Bible, and trees in folklore, culture, and the human psyche.

The Wisdom of the Tree is an easy-to-read yet thought-provoking book designed to instill awe for the world in which we live and show that it is far richer than what we can even imagine.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris AU
• Release date: Apr 18, 2016
• ISBN: 9781514494141

M. D. Sellers

M. D. Sellers lives in Perth, Western Australia, home to the mysterious West Australian Christmas tree. He is a musician, artist, and songwriter with a unique view of the world. Through various media, he aims toward revealing the abstruse elements that comprise much of the universe in which humankind somehow exists.

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Copyright © 2016 by M. D. Sellers.

Library of Congress Control Number:   2016904928

ISBN:      Hardcover       978-1-5144-9413-4

                Softcover         978-1-5144-9415-8

                eBook              978-1-5144-9414-1

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society.

Excerpts from Old Growth Foresters reprinted by permission from the author Roger Underwood of York Gum Publishing. © Roger Underwood, 2006.

Information in this book is not intended for medical advice as some plants mentioned may not be approved by the relevant regulatory bodies. Consult a medical professional before consuming anything unfamiliar.

Rev. date: 04/01/2016

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For Boxer and Coral-Eve

INTRODUCTION

Academically, I didn’t get much out of school. I suppose I was like many kids: bored and disinterested. Many people who I have spoken to about their education have similar experiences; they felt disengaged from the classroom because they found little relevance in the things being taught. Looking back on my own schooling, there is only one lesson that still sticks in my mind, and it is this lesson that, in a roundabout way, inspired this book.

It was a lesson on the basic principles of vegetation, and it was from this lesson that, even at a young age, I was able to extrapolate a deeper meaning. I didn’t know it then, but I can see now, that even as a youngster I had an inclination to see the philosophical aspects of things rather than the objective or scientific aspects, and I had a nascent feeling that it was my destiny to write about it.

I remember being in a classroom when I was about seven years old. One day the teacher conducted an experiment about light and how it makes things grow. At the time, it seemed like a fairly banal lesson, but looking back, its unintended meaning has become a memorable one.

The teacher included all the children in an experiment where we were each given a seed to plant in a piece of cotton wool. We were given a plastic dish to put the cotton wool and seed in. I don’t know what kind of seed it was – perhaps some kind of sprout – but I remember it was brownish and about twice the size of a pea.

We were organised into three groups. The first group was to place their seeds on the window sill in direct sunlight. I remember the light that came through that window in the summer afternoons. It was very intense.

The second group had to place their seeds on a bench at the back of the room where there was, perhaps, half as much sunlight shining upon there throughout the day.

Then the third group had their seeds locked in a pitch-black cupboard. I was in this third group. I liked being in this group because it meant I didn’t have to do anything, while the other two groups had to tend to their plants and record their progress on worksheets.

The purpose of the experiment was a simple one. Obviously, it was to show how plants need sunlight in order to grow. I suppose most of us already knew that, but to see it happen inside the classroom over a period of time was probably something designed to instil some enthusiasm for learning.

Over a week or so, the two sunlight groups got to care for their plants, keeping the cotton wool moist, and making sure no one came to sabotage their plant (there was a small amount of competition involved).

I didn’t mind being left out of all of that. I was not a very sociable kid, and I secretly wondered if I had been put in the non-sunlight group intentionally.

I didn’t mind the fact that my plant wouldn’t grow. I just didn’t really care. We all knew that the seeds in the cupboard wouldn’t grow, for that cupboard was the type with a sliding door that butted up hard against the side board and was locked shut with a key. The teacher was the only one who knew where the key was, and she was adamant that no light would ever get in there. There was no way that those plants had any hope of survival.

The other plants around the classroom grew remarkably quick. Most of the seeds had germinated and grown into long, thin, winding things, like long grass. Every morning we would enter the classroom, going straight over to see how big the plants had become. Within just a few days, the classroom was bordered on two sides by greenery. I didn’t know that that could happen in a substrate consisting only of cotton wool.

By the end of the experiment, when all the seedlings had grown as much as it was presumed that they were going to grow, and their measurements were taken, it was time to unlock the cupboard. We gathered around the cupboard as the teacher retrieved the key from its hiding spot. No one, including the teacher, was expecting to find any life in there – of course that was the point of the exercise – but there was also a strange kind of expectation that something miraculous had happened, even though no one really believed that it could.

The teacher unlocked the cupboard. Slowly, she slid the door open, drawing a dramatic breath.

To everyone’s surprise there was something growing in there! There was a single green shoot sprouting out from one of the plastic dishes in the back corner. It was as long, if not longer than all the others around the classroom, and it seemed to be reaching out like a nerve towards where the edge of the door butts with the sideboard, where maybe an imperceptible amount of light had gotten through.

It seemed impossible, even to us – seven year olds, and the teacher was obviously amazed. She slid the door closed again to check if the cupboard had been as good a tomb as she had planned, and it seemed to have been a tight seal. It did not appear that it could have been slid open either accidentally or on purpose by even a small amount at any time. If any sunlight had leaked into that cupboard at all, it must have been such a tiny amount, that it surely could not have been enough to sustain any plant life. Yet despite this, the seed had grown into a shoot as long in length as the ones in direct sunlight.

I don’t think it was the outcome the teacher had planned. If she had set out to prove that plants cannot grow in darkness, then she would now have to prove that some light had gotten into the cupboard when it appeared that there was only complete darkness. Obviously some light had leaked in, but it was hard to imagine that it was enough to grow a plant the same size as the ones outside the cupboard.

I couldn’t be sure, but I had a suspicion that it was actually my seed that had grown! It was then that I began to think of that plant as a metaphor, that we have all sprung out of the darkness, that we are alive because we are the few who have found light. This idea was encouraged furthermore when the teacher commented that, because only one seed had germinated, it must have been some kind of super seed, one more eager for life than the others. She went on to say how uncannily the plant looked as though it had been searching for light, winding its way so doggedly towards the edge of the sliding door, as if it had a brain, a definite will to grow towards the light, a desire to break out of the darkness. I instantly knew what she meant. The fact that this seed had grown on such a tiny amount of sunlight intrigued everyone. It seemed that even in a place where there is no light, there can still be enough light to give life. This unforseen outcome seemed to prove something beyond the scope of the experiment. It proved not only the importance sunlight has for the growth of plants but also, more notably, how important it is for life to grow towards that light.

I thought about that plant for some time. It helped me ponder the world, to see life as something greater than our limited minds can understand. How could it be that a simple brown seed could have a will to live? How does life know what to do? How could a thing without a brain defy the expectations of an adult human?

And so I was able to compare the human psyche to plants. There seemed something very philosophical about it all, and from an early age I could easily consider the intangible essence of all life on Earth. As a consequence, I would spend much time as a child sitting at the top of the gum trees of my childhood home (we had the tallest trees in the street), pondering the mysteries of the universe.

I think it is something that is very important for children to do, for it instils later on in the adult a greater appreciation for life, an awareness of deeper meaning, and more valuable creativity.

The title of this book is the name I give to the personal philosophy I have developed over many years. It goes like this:

Where the light represents all the goodness of life, it is not the amount of light that determines a person’s growth, but the amount of determination a person has to search for that light. The tree grows as large as its determination for life is, and so it is the same with man. It is through simplicity that we can become more positive, stronger, and happier. We should be like the trees, always seeking light: Simply, we must seek the goodness. I call this the wisdom of the tree.

It was with personal philosophical ideas such as this that I began writing this book. Initially, I aimed for 100 proverb-like entries, which I called treeverbs, but upon reaching that number I found that I still had more to say and inspired further by research, I decided to set a larger goal and extend the premise of the book to include interesting facts and biblical excerpts. I set myself the seemingly impossible target of 365 – one entry for each day of the year. And so it is that this book can be read in three ways: from start to finish, like a conventional book; as a calendar, one passage per day; or it can simply be flicked through at will.

Each entry in this book falls into one of the following categories: psychology, natural fact, personal philosophy, culture/folklore, and biblical reference.

The biblical extracts run in order from Genesis to Revelation (the first and last books of the Bible) and are selected passages, not a complete citation of all instances in the Bible of the word tree or its associated words. I have selected the most interesting passages and the ones that have meanings that are best suited to the theme of this book.

The personal philosophical ideas were either ones that I have had in mind for a long time, as indicative of the one mentioned, or ones wilfully induced during the process of writing this book (of which I was helped greatly by the trees, for many ideas came to me while I was sitting under the handful of gum trees and native shrubs that grow outside my home).

There is a wonderful German word that I have rarely seen used: Weltanschauung. It means: a particular philosophy or view of life; a conception of the world. We all have a Weltanschauung, and each one is unique. It is our Weltanschauung that influences the course of our lives in ways that are unseen, and it is also something that is capable of being continually expanded or altered as we go through life. This book is part of my Weltanschauung, which includes a Christian-based faith. The biblical inferences are not meant to be dogmatic, for belief is personal. We are free to believe in anything, for this is why we are able to have a Weltanschauung. Personally, I lean towards biblical writing for the gaining of understanding of the universe, for science has had a way of changing its stance on almost every subject, while ancient wisdom is timeless.

One clear example of this is the old argument over the shape of the earth, whether it is round or flat. In Isaiah, a book of the Bible that was written approximately 2,700 years ago, the earth is described as being round. At that time, many scholars – as well as most of the earth’s population – believed that the world was flat. It was a belief that lasted up until at least the seventeenth century, until European Christian mercenaries brought the round earth concept to China, the last nation on earth to accept that the earth is round. It is still in popular belief today that the flat-earth concept came from the Bible, and that scientists have had to fight against it heretically to prove the truth. It is more accurate to say that ancient wisdom, like that of which is recorded throughout the scriptures, is thousands of years ahead of science, and scientists, many of whom are by nature atheistic, have a clear agenda to ridicule anything that is infused with spiritual connotations, especially when it has the power to prove popular scientific belief wrong. In short, the bible does not attack science; it welcomes it.

It is my hope that the eclectic nature of this book will compel you to look at things in a different way, not just the trees, but everything; for this is not really a book about trees, it is about the mystery of everything.

While I was writing it, a phrase popped into my head, seemingly out of nowhere. It said: "Life is a far richer tapestry than

Reviews for The Wisdom of the Tree

[sparkleandchico · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

The author wanted me to review his book. Initially I declined on the basis that it seemed to be presenting New Age ideas with a leaning towards worshiping trees. The author assured me that it was not like that and was instead an attempt to encourage people to worship the Creator who made the trees (God) rather than the trees themselves.

I read the first third of the book and the end chapters and found so much material that I fundamentally disagree with as a Christian that I stopped reading for my own sake. The book is presented almost as a devotional type 365 daily readings with excerpts about trees. I don't prefer to give little known authors negative reviews/ratings but on this occasion it can't be helped. This book is dangerous and the author wanted my honest opinion.

I think it is best if I just list a few sample quotes from the book to highlight some of the many errors, from a Christian perspective.

Where the light represents all the goodness of life, it is not the amount of light that determines a person’s growth, but the amount of determination a person has to search for that light. The tree grows as large as its determination for life is, and so it is the same with man. It is through simplicity that we can become more positive, stronger, and happier. We should be like the trees, always seeking light: Simply, we must seek the goodness. I call this “the wisdom of the tree”.

It is in the tree’s nature to be a healer, a giver, and a protector. Sometimes the tree’s wisdom does impart on mankind, and this is how man has found its peaceful purposes.

Whether the gap between the birth of trees and the birth of man was of three days or many millennia is culturally insignificant. The fact that trees preceded humans, and is acknowledged universally, in probably every religion, belief, and folklore, is telling, and proves that trees came first, whether they were created by God, or had evolved by themselves.

The first modern tree – that is, a tree that resembles the trees we see now, having a trunk and branches and leaves and stuff –emerged during the Devonian period approximately 360 million
years ago.

One wonders what it would have felt like to be the first tree in the world, if indeed a tree could know that. Are trees aware of themselves? How could it be that such a mighty thing could come into existence without having some kind of “life force”?

The tree is quite a gift. It is a gift that is a source of life. We could not have been formed as humans without the tree.

Whatever the date, whatever the name, the goal is the same: to educate about and bring trees to the forefront of the minds of the masses. As obvious as trees are, it is amazing how necessary it is to remind people of them.

The above quotations were the things I highlighted just from the first 20 pages of a 260 page book! We have evolutionary ideas mixed with Biblical ones. A suggestion that the tree is central to anything and everything we do as humans with an unhealthy focus on it. That God couldn't have created us without the tree. That trees somehow are not only living but have their own "life force" that is in tune with humans.

But the most disturbing ideas I found were those encouraging humans to better themselves and find goodness through the tree and through Creation rather than through the Creator Himself. The author frequently mentions that we need to seek light but he doesn't make the source of that light clear. Nowhere in the Bible are we told to make ourselves stronger and better ourselves through nature. There is also a worrying passage about tree worship in ancient cultures. Indeed, the author blends folklore/legend with Bible passages as if they have the same level of authority. He even states that trees are akin to God in one section.

Unfortunately, I think this book will receive a wide audience as I have to concede that it is well written and the style with the 365 reflections is attractive. The ideas will appeal to those with New Age or "Save the Environment" leanings and will be a distraction from the only true light and hope for the world, Jesus.

One day this world will pass away, including the trees! We will then stand before God to account for our lives and be judged for our sin. Those who are not trusting Jesus for forgiveness of sin will go to eternal punishment and those who are, to eternal life in heaven. Maybe reflecting on this will put the whole tree topic into its proper place-- the tree is beautiful and contributes to our life here on earth as God wills, but it is the Creator who should receive our devotion and praise.