During this season of Pentecost, we are engaging in a series called “Teachings from the Trees.” This is an extension of our Creation Care series where we looked at our role and call to live in harmony with the created world around us and remember that we, too, are a part of that creation.
We started our studying in the book of Genesis where God tells Adam and Eve that they are allowed to eat of every tree in the Garden of Eden except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. They are tempted to get a taste of what it is like to be like God. This is the greatest temptation of humanity. It is the temptation humanity encounters at the tower of Babel. We want to determine what is good and evil in other people’s actions and decisions rather than looking inward at whether our own actions and decisions are good and evil.
What if instead we learned from the trees? What if we concentrated on being present with the Divine in the cool of the evening rather than judging others? Would we be able to live in community together again?