May 21

Proverbs of Solomon (Cont.) Control of the Tongue, Wise and foolish talk - Proverbs 14:3, 15:2, 15:7, 16:23, 18:6-7, 19:1, 23:15-16; Righteous and wicked talk - Proverbs 10:20-21, 10:31-32, 11:11, 12:13-14, 13:2, 15:28, 17:4; Appropriate speech - Proverbs 15:23, 16:21, 16:24, 25:11, 27:14; Maintaining silence - Proverbs 10:19, 12:23, 13:3, 17:28, 18:13, 21:23; Controlled speech - Proverbs 15:1, 17:27, 25:15; Flattery - Proverbs 26:28, 28:23, 29:5; Slander and gossip - Proverbs 10:18, 11:13, 16:28, 17:9, 18:8, 26:22, 20:19, 26:20; Hurtful talk - Proverbs 11:12, 12:18, 15:4, 16:27, 25:23, 26:2; Quarreling - Proverbs 17:14, 17:19, 20:3, 22:10, 26:21; Lying - Proverbs 12:19, 12:22, 17:20, 19:5, 19:22, 21:6; Power of the tongue - Proverbs 18:20-21

The Tree of Life standing 14 stories and 145 feet above streams and grass at the heart of Disney's Animal Kingdom.

"The tongue that brings healing is a tree of life,

     but a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit."

Proverbs 15:4

So far, three times in the readings a proverb has used "a tree of life" as allusion.  By my count it will be a total of four times in Proverbs.  I wonder how common and powerful a symbol this phrase was in ancient Hebrew tradition?  Was there some national memory and longing for the tree that had been left behind in the garden because of sin?  They had left this tree behind in the Garden of Eden but will return to it in the garden of heaven.  

The tree of life.  It is the ultimate reward, the ultimate blessing, the ultimate goal of this life -- to eat of the tree of life and so live forever -- and so there are certain things that the wise may do and embrace that bestows on their life the figurative tree of life.

Some imagine the tree of life to be acadia.  The wood used in the Ark of the Covenant and Tabernacle was acadia.  Some thought this was also the Burning Bush was also acadia.  Did the tree exist only in The Garden?  Or did it just cease to bear fruit but continue to grow as a remember of what might have been and what still could be if one kept the law?  

It seems we have ceased to have any memory of this tree.  It may still grow without fruit and we walk past it unaware.  I wonder why there is no record of what it looked like?  Wouldn't it have been something that Adam or Eve enshrined in a crude illustration or poetic word picture or pointed to a similar tree?  Or was the shame of what had been lost just too great?  Lord knows.

I wonder if this association, this abiding memory of what the Tree of Life was capable of, is why we seem to inherently have a love and respect for trees?  

What tree would you nominate as a reminder or distant son of the Tree of Life?  The mighty oak?  The towering red woods?  The angel tree in South Carolina?  The cedars so plentiful in ancient Lebanon?  Did cedars once bear fruit that imparted life but today we're still blessed with the pleasant power of cedar's aroma?  The apple tree?  Or the weeping willow?

What do you think?