1Happy are those who .. delight in the law of the Lord , and on his law they meditate day and night.3 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. IPsalm 1)
In Australia, in 2022, a poll for the most favourite native tree revealed the iconic River Red Gum as the winner. At full maturity, these majestic gnarly giants are around 30 m tall, and thought to have a life span around 500 – 1000 years. It is the dominant tree species along the Murray-Darling basin, and its deep tap root allows it to access deep underground water troughs. Even when the surface river remains dry for very long periods.
An individual tree can also support literally hundreds of thousands of other insects and animals, including birds and other animals who build homes in the many holes of the tree’s trunk. Traditional owners, the Adnvamathanha people, have often used these holes in the trunk as ‘step-ladders’ to reach eggs from nests made in some of the holes. The very large craters in the trunk that form at ground level have also provided shelter and warmth, and the wide canopy shade in the hotter months.
The mighty Red River Gums survive in both drought and fire – ‘in all that they do, they prosper’. And all because of that single tap root that delves deep below the earth’s surface to the ever-flowing stream of life-giving water. And in doing so sustain much of creation that lives above.
May we be always searching, trusting and relying on the Spirit’s deep presence in our lives, like the Red River Gum’s tap root, so that not just we, but all of creation, can prosper.
Rev Ceri
