1 Corinthians 2:9-10

But as it is written-

‘What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,
   nor the human heart conceived,
what God has prepared for those who love him’—
these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God .

This morning, my class steps out of the van and into the snowy woods, the clear, warm sunshine on our backs.  I expect to bask in the rays.

We measure the trees together, taking turns looking into the prism, which reveals whether a particular tree in our lot is worth measuring and, later, harvesting.  Without the dressing of the leaves to help us identify the species, we are left to guess, by way of bark and branches.  The deeply grooved bark of the red oak, the slight dropping of the shagbark hickory’s branches, the smooth skin of the beech, the opposite branching of the maple.   We rejoice when we finally begin to recognize their uniqueness.

Standing in the midst of a forest, I circumscribe the final lot and the worth of this place is revealed.  Loggers may see the monetary value, but the stewards of God’s creation see the worth of the beauty of this place, from the moss and lichen, to the ferns and sleeping salamanders, the diversity of the plant and animal community has more value than just how many reams of paper it will produce. 

I cannot exactly calculate the value of beauty or the exquisite efficiency of the biosphere, but when I stand here in this wood, in this place of tangible magic, even when my feet are wet and frozen, I am aware and in awe of the greatness of God’s infinite creative spirit, the depths of God’s love for all creation.

- Ellyn Siftar