By the Rev. Tim Power
There are at least two good reasons never to take trees for granted. One reason is economic and the other is more spiritual. First, the economic reason. Dr. Jon Pahl of Philadelphia did the research. His staggering statistic could motivate us all to “go green.” Here is the value of a single tree planted in a city. Each mature tree in a city produces “$73 worth of air conditioning, $75 worth of erosion control, $75 in wildlife shelter and $50 in air pollution control every year.” Doing the math means that a single tree living an average of 50 years will have the equivalent value of $57,151. If you have five trees around your house their value comes in at $285,755. One pastor noted 22 trees on the church grounds where he serves. With a smile on his face he noted that the trees were giving more than the congregation was giving. This research was done in 2003, so I presume that the economic value of a tree has risen quite a bit since then.
The spiritual reason is found in the following folk tale from Japan. There once lived a poor woman who, every morning, faithfully visited the shrine of her ancestors. She was so devoted that one day the ancestors left her a gift. It was a small green cap. She put on the cap, and to her great surprise, she was able to understand what the birds, animals and plants of the forest were saying. “It’s a listening cap!” she cried happily. Just then two robins landed on a nearby branch and began to converse.
“It’s so sad about the maple tree,” said one.
“How true,” replied the other. “I heard it crying again last night. Do you know the story behind the tree’s sadness?”
“Yes,” said the first robin. “I was there the day it happened. The town mayor chopped down the maple in order to make room for a teahouse in his garden. Unfortunately, he didn’t dig up the roots, and that’s why the tree still cries out in pain. It isn’t dead, nor is it alive. It just remains under the teahouse.”
“Is that why the mayor is so weak and sickly?” asked the other bird.
“Yes,” said the first. “The maple has put a dark spell on him. On the day the tree finally dies, the mayor, too, will be carried to his grave.”
Upon hearing all of this, the woman rushed home and dressed as a wandering doctor. With the listening cap still on her head, she walked up to the door of the mayor’s grand house. The mayor’s wife was delighted to find someone who might have some new medical insight. She had exhausted all the local doctors and none of them were able to bring health back to the mayor.
“When did your husband have the teahouse built in the garden?” asked the doctor.
“Just last year,” said the mayor’s wife.
“And has your husband been sick ever since?” “Yes,” she said. “How did you know?”
“It’s a special talent of mine,” answered the doctor. “Before I examine your husband, I would like to have a cup of tea in the garden.” The phony doctor went into the teahouse and sat quietly. Soon she heard a low moan coming from beneath the floor.
“Is that you, poor maple tree?” asked a butterfly floating into the room. “Are you feeling any better today?”
“No … I feel much worse … in fact, I’m going to die soon, and when I do, so will the mayor. I’ll see to that.”
“Please don’t die,” said the butterfly.
“No, don’t die … don’t die …” echoed the garden roses.
The doctor rushed to the mayor’s bed side and told him that he must tear down the teahouse, nurture the roots of the maple tree and help it come back to life. Surprisingly the mayor agreed and as the maple recovered so did the mayor. The woman with the listening cap spent the rest of her life listening to nature and helping people live in harmony with it.
So it seems to be good economics to take care of nature and, more important, it seems healthy to try and listen to nature.

The Rev. Tim Power shares this space with the Revs. Rod Anderson and Timothy A. Johnson as well as spiritual writers Dr. Bernard E. Johnson and Lauren Carlson-Vohs. “Spiritually Speaking” appears weekly.