A Tree Planted by the Water: What we can learn from trees about spiritual life.

(From a sermon by the Rev. Jeremy F. Simons, Bryn Athyn, Pennsylvania, August 23, 2015)

The very first psalm has this beautiful metaphor for a spiritual person:

“He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, which brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither; and whatever he does shall prosper.” (Psalm 1:3).

One of the things that people love about living in Pennsylvania is the abundance of trees. The maples, oaks, ash, beech, sycamores, apple trees and cherry, white pine, hemlock, cedars, willow and dogwood that we all see on a daily basis are an important and beautiful part of our environment.

It is interesting how frequently the Word compares people to trees, with hundreds of references in the Old and New Testaments. The Writings say:

“The representative likeness that exists between a fruitful tree and a person who is being regenerated is so great that one may learn from a tree about regeneration, provided that something is known first about spiritual good and truth.” (Arcana Coelestia 5115).

People are also compared with various animals and birds, from sheep and goats, to eagles and doves, lions and serpents. But none of these come up as frequently as trees do, and there is no statement similar to this about any animal – that we can learn from a tree about regeneration. What can we learn about regeneration from trees?

One example of what we can learn is the explanation of the passage above, from Psalm 1, and this similar one, from the prophet Jeremiah:

“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope is the Lord. For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, which spreads out its roots by the river.” (Jeremiah 17:8).

At one level, the message of these verses is so obvious and clear that they hardly need an explanation. But the details of the message do have aspects that are not so obvious, and which tell us about regeneration by comparing our lives with the lives of trees. There is a double comparison in these verses. A person is compared with a tree, and a blessed person is contrasted with the wicked.

Let's look closely. The passage from Jeremiah begins this way:

“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope is the Lord.” (Jeremiah 17:8)

Another translation, by the British New Church composer C. J. Whittington renders it this way:

“Blessed is the man who confideth in the Lord, and the Lord is his trust.”

The word that has been translated as “trust”, “hope” and “confideth” is the same Hebrew word, referring to the idea that a good person places their confidence in the Lord, relying on Him, believing in Him and obeying Him.

The parallel verses in Psalm 1 expand on this same idea:

“Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful; But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night.” Psalm 1:1

Here the Psalmist is describing trust in the Lord.

In Swedenborg's work, The Apocalypse Explained, he notes why the Psalm mentions walking, standing and sitting:

“Here the expressions "to walk," "to stand," and "to sit," are used as following one another. For "to walk" pertains to the life of thought from intention, "to stand" to the life of the intention from the will, and "to sit" to the life of the will, thus it is life's being [esse].” (Apocalypse Explained 687).

In other words, someone who does not walk, stand, or sit in evil ways and intentions is someone who trusts in the Lord. This trust is then specifically described as his delight being the “law of the Lord,” in which he meditates day and night. This is an important addition, because “trusting in the Lord” can be taken as an attitude of passive acceptance rather than a life of active obedience. The Psalmist makes it clear that the Lord is the source of our direction in life. We gain access to Him through His Word and doing as it teaches.

This, then, sets up the comparison with a tree, and gives us an idea about what it teaches us about regeneration. In Jeremiah, the next sentence is this:

“For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, which spreads out its roots by the river.” (Jeremiah 17:8)

And in the Psalm:

“He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water.” (Psalm 1:3)

We find similar imagery in many places in the Word, such as in Balaam’s prophecy in Numbers:

“How lovely are your tents, O Jacob!

Your dwellings, O Israel!

Like valleys that stretch out,

Like gardens by the riverside,

Like aloes planted by the Lord,

Like cedar trees beside the waters.” (Numbers 24:5-6).

The beautiful imagery of a tree by a river is the key to the appeal and brilliance of this whole series.

Sometimes it may seem as though the Word’s persistent comparisons of people with trees are less apt than comparisons with animals would be. Trees lack mobility, body parts such as legs and heads, and anything even resembling free will. But what trees do have are roots. The concept of tree roots is especially valuable as something that teaches us about regeneration. Roots are a tangible representation of something that is intangible with us.

The tree stands by itself as a seemingly autonomous life form. But beneath the surface its roots invisibly form a connection with the moisture and the minerals that sustain it. The tree is beside the river, seemingly apart from it, but its roots join it to the source of its life.

All of us are similarly connected to the Lord as our source of life. But this connection is invisible, intangible, difficult to understand, and easy to deny or simply forget about. We are all seemingly autonomous, standing apart on our own, like a tree. The imagery of tree roots, however, reminds us of our utter dependence on the Lord. We are told that,

“There is one only fountain of life, from which all live both in heaven and in the world… Life from the Lord flows in with angels, spirits, and people, in a wonderful manner.” (New Jerusalem and its Heavenly Doctrine 278)

This goes on continually, and,

“Unless the Lord were preserving everybody in every fraction of a moment, humanity would perish.” (Arcana Coelestia 694)

This may be hard to understand and accept on a moment to moment basis, because the appearance of our independence and self-life is so strong. The idea that He is sustaining us every instant can seem beyond us. But we are told that,

“The chief of the wisdom and intelligence of the angels consists in perceiving and knowing that the all of life is from the Lord.” (Arcana Coelestia 4318)

This is why the comparison with a tree is so appropriate and useful. So much depends on a tree’s source of nutrients and water. Similarly in our lives everything depends on our connection with the Lord. The Writings describe this as the issue with atheism:

“People who cut themselves off from the church and from heaven by denying the existence of God close their inner selves on the side of the will and shut themselves off from its positive love.” (True Christianity 14)

It is not something that is apparent to us. The real connection, though, is not so much about our ideas as about what we love:

“The order is this: From the Lord comes everything heavenly… That which is heavenly is love to the Lord and love towards the neighbor. Where there is no love, the chain is broken and the Lord not present. For He flows in solely by way of that which is heavenly, or by way of love.” (Arcana Coelestia 1096)

If we lack this love, then, we compromise our connection with the source of life. Since we have this love by obeying the Lord’s Word, the person who is like this tree is one who loves the law of the Lord, and lives by it. He is the tree, according to the Psalmist,

“That brings forth its fruit in its season,

Whose leaf also shall not wither;

And whatever he does shall prosper.” (Psalm 1)

And again, in Jeremiah:

“And he shall not fear when heat comes; but his leaf shall be green, And he will not be anxious in the year of drought, nor will he cease from bearing fruit.” (Jeremiah 17)

Everything here depends on the stability and reliability of the source. This stability affects three things noted in these verses: our anxiety or fear, our leaves, and our fruit. Each one is important. No one likes to be anxious. Drought conditions cause a lot of anxiety about dying crops and wildfires. Even in a drought, however, a tree planted by a strong river will do well. Similarly, a person who has a strong confidence in the Lord, based in a loving and useful life, is connected to Him. The connection will better enable them to bear up under difficult circumstances, and not be overcome with anxiety.

Just as important as our state of anxiety is the state of our leaves. Are they withered? Are they green? The leaves are the things that a person knows, and the fact that they are green means that they are “made alive by truths” (Apocalypse Explained 481). Our connection with the Lord enables us to recognize the truth, and our trust in the Word as the source of truth gives us access to it.

Then, finally, the fruit, the purpose of this whole process, is the happy result. Trust in the Lord benefits everything. Both the Psalmist and Jeremiah call this person “blessed” but the word “happy” works just as well, being the same word both in Hebrew and Greek. This is how to have a happy life.

Both Psalm 1 and Jeremiah 17 also describe the opposite scenario – the person who is cursed and unhappy. They trust in themselves, or in other people, and struggle like a shrub in the desert, or like the chaff which the wind drives away.

There are numerous other parallels between our spiritual life and lives of trees, but we will mention just one more aspect of the comparison. This is that while it may seem that the things said about trees are just a pleasing illustration, their reality and importance are greater than we would think.

In a passage from the Coronis, we read that people are like trees, and that in the course of their life they repeatedly bring forth the spiritual equivalent of flowers, fruits, seeds, and from them more flowers fruits and seeds, on and on, over and over again. The actions of their life, therefore, surround every person with their own unique spiritual garden – a garden made up from everything that they have thought and done over the course of their life. The passage then says:

“And if you are willing to believe it, that same garden remains with the person after death; he dwells in it, and is delighted daily with the sight of it, and with the use of its fruits. It is such a person who is described in David by these words: He shall be like a tree planted beside the rivers of waters, which shall bring forth its fruit in its season, and its leaf shall not fall.” (Coronis 7)

In other words, the garden is real. It is not just words on a page. The tree planted by the water is there in your life, and becomes visible in heaven.

Finally, the Lord came into the world to create this garden and to raise these trees. We need to trust in Him. He said in Isaiah:

“The LORD has anointed Me to preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted; …that they may be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.” (Isaiah 61)

"Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented." Luke 16:25

Additional readings: 1 Samuel 16:1-13, Psalm 7, Psalm 1, Psalm 8

The parable of the rich man and Lazarus is a parable of judgment, and pictures the rich man as failing in the final judgment and the poor man as attaining the kingdom of heaven. It is not said that one was good and the other bad, but that one was rich and the other poor. And when the rich man asked that Lazarus might be sent to the rich man's house to warn his brothers, Abraham refused the request. This request of the rich man seems to be a legitimate one and the refusal unmerciful.

There are other passages in the Scriptures which seem to teach this same lesson. When the rich young man came to the Lord and asked what he should do to inherit eternal life, the Lord said "Keep the commandments." The rich young man replied, "All these have I kept from my youth up." Then the Lord told, him that he was near the kingdom, but that if he would enter in, he must go and sell all that he had and give to the poor (Matthew 19:16-22, Mark 10:17-22, Luke 18:18-23).

Mary in her magnification of Christ was inspired to say, "He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree. He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away" (Luke 1:52).

Our text is from one of the Lord's parables, given to teach a lesson which it is important for us to understand, as it deals with our eternal happiness. We need to know who are meant by the rich man and the poor man. If the rich represent the materially rich and the poor those poor in this world's goods, wherein is there any parable? Of the Word it is written, "The letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life" (2 Corinthians 3:6). In its letter, the Word often seems hard, contradictory, and even contrary to the laws of the Divine love, but in its inner meaning it is consistent and teaches truths necessary to the attainment of heavenly life. And we know that many of its truths had to be so veiled because men were not ready to receive them.

In the parable the rich man stands for those who have the knowledges of Divine truth and because of this think themselves good—for those who are rich in their own conceit, who ask in the boastfulness of their pride, "What lack I?"

The first words the Lord spoke in the Sermon on the Mount were "Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven"(Matthew 5:3). These are the poor of our parable. But the parable itself shows what is meant by the rich man. There is one very important word which discloses its meaning. The parable does not say that the rich man had the Lord's good things, the good things of heavenly life. Abraham says to the rich man, "Thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things." And the parable tells what these good things were. "There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day." His pleasures were those that gratified the senses of the body, the delights of the material world. He knew better. He had Moses and the prophets. And therein was his condemnation. He had the light of the Word, but he was so rich in his self-conceit that he would not hear it. Instead of searching the Scriptures to find the way of life, he thought that he knew enough to choose his own way, and he chose the things that he thought were good. And the parable teaches that he did not attain the kingdom of heaven. Could it be expected that he would?

Is it to be expected that we can make ourselves sensual and selfish, interested only in the things of this world, with no thought for the development of our souls, and then enjoy the life of heaven? Do we think that heavenly life consists in external pleasures and delights?

The rich man was told that no one could bring him a drop of water to cool his parched tongue because a great gulf was fixed between Lazarus in heaven and himself, which neither was able to cross. It seems hard and merciless that Abraham could not send someone across that gulf with at least a cup of cold water.

We knew the Lord to be a God of love, mercy, and forgiveness, and that if it had been within His power, He would have made rivers of water break forth in the rich man's desert. But yet a drop of water could be brought to him. What does this mean?

It means simply this: if a man with all the advantages of the church, with all the teachings and warnings of the Word, chooses to spend his whole life in acquiring and enjoying the things of this world alone, and does not cultivate the higher delights in spiritual things, he becomes a form of worldly desires and pleasures, and when he lays off the material body, these desires will continue to burn, and by the laws of that world they cannot be gratified.

Heaven is a kingdom of unselfish love. As the Lord said to Samuel, "The Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart" (1 Samuel 16:7). Heavenly happiness comes from the love of service to others, not from seeking things for self. The parable also pictures the state of the Jewish Church at that time. They had the Word and were proud of their knowledge, but would not share it with others. They would use it only for their own advantage.

To enter heaven we must at least begin to cultivate the loves which reign in heaven. Hell is the kingdom of selfish love. Heaven and hell are opposites. It is said that a great gulf was fixed so that those who would pass could not. That great gulf was fixed by the disorganized internal of the rich man. We may ourselves have seen that great gulf when, in trying to urge someone not to persist in a wrong course, we found the love of self and of self-indulgence so strong that there was no foundation for moral persuasion and no response to reason. That is the great gulf. Not a single truth can be imparted. Not one drop of cold water could be carried across that great chasm.

The parable discloses to us the laws of the spirit. It tells us what our life here is for, that it is given us as an opportunity for the attainment of eternal life. If we wish the true riches, we must lay them up now. If we want any virtue, we must treasure it in the heart, for where our treasure is, there will the heart be also (Matthew 6:21, Luke 12:34).

The poor man in the parable is the man poor in spirit, who does not think that he is in himself wise or good, but who looks to the Lord for light and for the power to understand and obey. He is one who sees his weaknesses, his spiritual poverty, who sees the needs of his soul. The way to heaven is through the keeping of the commandments, but there is a right way and a wrong way of keeping them. The rich young man said that he had kept them from his youth up. But he had kept them in order that he might gain the kingdom and he was proud of his success. Keeping the commandments even in this way brings us near the gates of the holy city, but the Lord told him that if he would enter in, he must go and sell all that he had. The riches that he had were his pride, his self-confidence and self-sufficiency. He must come into dependence upon the Lord instead of upon self.

The lesson of the parable is for all men of all time, for all of us are born natural, with tendencies to self-seeking. We form our characters here. We too have Moses and the prophets, and we should not let the great gulf form within us which will separate us from the kingdom for which we are to prepare ourselves.

"Thus saith the Lord, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: but let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me that I am the Lord, which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the Lord."