In the Sacred Song from which today’s reflection takes inspiration, the tree is a wonder of nature that human creatures can aspire to imitate. Spend some time reflecting on what a tree might teach you.

A tree beside Cumbrian stream Buttermere Dubs, which drains water from Buttermere and carries it to Crummock Water. Thanks to Trevor Littlewood under Creative Commons.

Psalm 1, from the Hebrew Scriptures, is a joyful song that commends people who are like trees!

Happy are those
   who do not follow the advice of the wicked,
or take the path that sinners tread,
   or sit in the seat of scoffers;
but their delight is in the law of the Lord,
   and on his law they meditate day and night.
They are like trees
   planted by streams of water,
which yield their fruit in its season,
   and their leaves do not wither.
In all that they do, they prosper.

The wicked are not so,
   but are like chaff that the wind drives away.
Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgement,
   nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous;
for the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
   but the way of the wicked will perish.

Some of us may know it well - perhaps having learned to recite it along with other bible passages. Memorising scripture was and is important in many settings - as a discipline and sometimes a talisman against evil.

In this Psalm, poem or song, however, the composer is moved by intimate and contemplative ways of engaging with ‘the law of the Lord’, or with sacred texts. There is encouragment to ‘delight in the law of the Lord’ and ‘meditate day and night’ on the words. Perhaps that is precisely how we might approach the words of this song, too.

Does that appeal to you?

To the many who have found creation a solace in the days of lockdown, the image of a tree by a stream as alluded to in the Psalm may be particularly relevant.

Trees are symbols of stability, of stillness, of strength, no matter what is going on around them. Trees remind us of the need for sustenance - food, water, oxygen. Their lives operate on a longer timescale and so they help us observe nature’s patience. This Psalm indicates that there are lessons to be learnt from a tree – such as how to be still and quiet as we engage with the words of the Divine, which in turn sustains us.

Poet Malcom Guite has responded to Psalm 1 in a sonnet Beatus Vir (Blessed is the Man [sic]….) His is written as an invitation from the Divine to a time of ‘meditation by these waters’.

Read the words alongside the image of our tree here. Or listen to them being read here.

You may like to spend time with the Psalm or the sonnet or both.

Whichever you choose, read it slowly two or three times. If a word or phrase strikes you, stay with it for a while. Be like the tree rooted in the ground, staying by the ‘stream’ of that word or phrase, resisting the need to rush on.

Just as a tree does not work hard at drawing up water, but allows the natural or God-given processes of its created self to take in water and sustenance from the ground and sky, so too try not to work hard with the words of these poems. Allow them to sink in; notice and step away from the tendency to analyse; allow yourself not to ‘think’ too much.

You may find it helpful to record in a journal your word/phrase and return to it after some time and ponder on the ‘fruit’, ‘leaves’ and ‘roots’ that have come from praying with God’s word in this way.

If you wish, carve out some time to listen to a recording of Monteverdi’s Beatus Vir which conveys the joyfulness of tree-like existence! An example is here.