“All the trees of the forest will sing for joy.” Psalm 96:12

“Every leaf speaks bliss to me, fluttering from the autumn tree.” Emily Bronte

The aspen trees are turning in Colorado.  It’s a glorious site.  No, more than that, it’s a spiritual experience!  Though not as diverse in their colors as those of the oak and maple in the north and northeast, their golden leaves reflect a unique beauty, lighting up the mountains like so many pots of gold. I’ve been the blessed recipient and unwitting participant of their heavenly symphony this week.

Friday, I drove to the Vail Valley for the WALK to end Alzheimer’s.  Seeing the leaves shimmering like gold coins on the side of the mountains was nothing less than breathtaking!  For three hours I was transported to a place of peace and serenity.  My only regret was that I was stuck behind the wheel of a car, and not able to commune fully with these vessels of nature’s spirit.

But I did have that pleasure the previous Sunday morning.  I took my usual contemplative walk from the little church that I’ve been serving up the road and onto the trail that leads into the Wild Basin.  It’s maybe a couple of miles round trip.  I found a small clearing off the trail where I could clearly see Mt. Meeker.  Though not as well-known as Longs Peak, rising just short of 14,000 feet, Meeker is nonetheless majestic in its own right.  I sat down on a small outcropping of rock to munch on my breakfast sandwich and bask in the glory of the morning rays reflecting off the steep slopes.  I had been sitting for a few minutes, soaking in the beauty, and reviewing the sermon I would be delivering, when suddenly I noticed three aspen standing perhaps twenty yards in front of me.  Though slightly to the left of my direct line of sight, I was surprised that I hadn’t noticed them before.  They weren’t huge, maybe forty feet high, but they were very uniform in the size of their trunks, their height, and their shape.  In essence they were carbon copies of one another. They stood close enough to one another for their leaves to come together at their top, giving the impression of being one tree.  Such elegant beauty, and majesty that was much simpler than that of Meeker. And then I realized that here, in these three aspens, was nature’s living lesson on The Trinity; three individual trees yet united as one.  And also, a reminder that everything is connected.  For no aspen is isolated from others.  Their roots form one system, extending not only to other trees, but other clumps and groves, forming an intricate network of interconnectedness and communion.

The aspen reflects the truth of creation.  All is connected.  All is one.  Though we may view ourselves strictly as individuals, we are connected to one another, to all of nature, to God and to everything in all creation.  This is true not only in this present time, but in the past and into the future.

The aspen provides a silent and subtle reminder to take time to be aware, to be present, to see and experience fully the glory of God radiating through all things. 

The aspen reminds me to enjoy the moments of bliss, as Bronte writes.  The beatific bliss reflected by, in, and through creation.

The aspen invites me to lift my eyes so that my spirit can be uplifted, and my heart join the song of the aspen as they perform an opus magnum to the unseen God who nonetheless is visible in so many ways!