People, Like Trees, Need Light

Have you noticed that people and trees grow at similar rates and in similar ways? Like trees do, we human beings make decisions at every moment of our lives that influence our ultimate direction. 

We each build a sturdy foundation in childhood, draw our nutrition from the Earth, breathe in and breathe out, and search upward for the light. 

When we encounter life’s obstacles, we can create buds of new growth that bypass those obstacles by eventually branching out in new directions, just as a tree does. Trees and people both turn their efforts toward growth and development, becoming mature organisms through the lessons they learn as life proceeds minute by minute.

In fact, the Baha’i teachings metaphorically compare religion itself to trees, as Abdu’l-Baha wrote:

… the religion of God is one, and it is the educator of humankind, but still, it needs must be made new. When thou dost plant a tree, its height increaseth day by day. It putteth forth blossoms and leaves and luscious fruits. But after a long time, it doth grow old, yielding no fruitage any more. Then doth the Husbandman of Truth take up the seed from that same tree, and plant it in a pure soil; and lo, there standeth the first tree, even as it was before.

“The tree of being” forms another beautiful metaphor in the Baha’i writings:

Strain every nerve to acquire both inner and outer perfections, for the fruit of the human tree hath ever been and will ever be perfections both within and without. It is not desirable that a man be left without knowledge or skills, for he is then but a barren tree. Then, so much as capacity and capability allow, ye needs must deck the tree of being with fruits such as knowledge, wisdom, spiritual perception and eloquent speech.

So, as I methodically disassembled the dead old oak tree on my property, I considered its construction. 

Every branch and twig, I noticed, grew in a slightly different direction than the ones above and below, radiating out from its individual branch and maximizing the sunlight each leaf of the tree could potentially receive. Even before those leaves existed, the tree understood in advance that its destiny involved turning toward the light.

This, it seems to me, indicates a remarkable kind of intelligence — the tree ultimately knowing what it needs to thrive, with every new twig maximizing that potential. 

When you look at a tree’s canopy, that’s why you see mostly just the green — because the humble limbs and branches, even though they make up the support structure of the tree, voluntarily hide themselves among the outward-facing leaves, allowing the tree to continue to grow. This reminded me of Baha’u’llah’s advice on humility:

… it behoveth the people of truth that the signs of humility should shine upon their faces, that the light of sanctity should radiate from their countenances, that they should walk upon the earth as though they were in the presence of God and distinguish themselves in their deeds from all the dwellers of the earth.

As I separated and snipped those oak branches, their structures revealed themselves to me. I could see how the tree invested its energy to grow, to expand, to seek the light. More importantly, I could see the intelligence the tree manifested — that it had thrived in its growth, directed by its DNA and by the rays of the sun, it went from a single shoot to a mighty oak.

In a similar way, we can maximize our own personal growth by evaluating every decision we make with a single criterion — does it help us turn toward the light? In a speech he gave in Maine in 1912, Abdu’l-Baha offered this spiritual advice:

All the Prophets have striven to make love manifest in the hearts of men. Jesus Christ sought to create this love in the hearts. He suffered all difficulties and ordeals that perchance the human heart might become the fountain source of love. Therefore, we must strive with all our heart and soul that this love may take possession of us so that all humanity — whether it be in the East or in the West — may be connected through the bond of this divine affection; for we are all the waves of one sea; we have come into being through the same bestowal and are recipients from the same center. The lights of earth are all acceptable, but the center of effulgence is the sun, and we must direct our gaze to the sun. God is the Supreme Center. The more we turn toward this Center of Light, the greater will be our capacity.

We human beings can all decide to turn toward the light, I thought — which means we can all learn something from trees.