A TRIBUTE TO TREES

SILENT PRAISE

They stand straight and tall,

arms outstretched and reaching

into the heavens, to God,

their silent voices praising their Creator.

They never more except when the wind

blows and they respond to the rhythm

of the wind. No matter how life has bent

them, they stretch toward heaven,

their praises shouting in silent voices,

heard only by those who listen.

They fulfill their mission, assigned

by their Creator: refuge for the birds,

shade from the heat, life of oxygen

from their leaves. In winter and spring,

they show that life comes from death, and

even when their lives have been cut short

and they exist only as a stump,

new life forces its way from the soil

into life. Death proceeds life, for a seed has to fall into the ground

and die before it will truly live.

Season after season, through death to life,

they serve their creator, drawing life from

the water in the ground and returning their silent praise.