The Road to The Trees

It doesn’t matter what else is going on in my life, whenever I get into the car and head to The Trees, things change. I feel my gears shift from “drive” into something lower, something slower. Suddenly, the meeting that didn’t go well and the one that will surely follow, the fretting about whether I actually paid the water bill, traffic, don’t fill up my brain as much as they did when I set out for 1701 Pleasant Green Road.

Sometimes on my drive, the story of Cleopas and his friend walking to Emmaus keeps me company. Those two were also filled with events and distractions. Actions and outcomes that were painful for two disciples who believed that their hopes for someone to free Israel from Rome’s oppression had been fulfilled. Walking slowly, comforting each other in their sadness, and trying to make sense of what had happened a few days earlier, they stop when a stranger asks what they are talking about. After they offer a summary, their new companion (the resurrected Jesus) explains everything to them. 

Now, I used to think that it was the breaking of the bread that allows Christ to become visible to these two. I don’t doubt that that is true. But, I also think something else happens before the bread breaking which allows the power of the sacrament to shine through. When they reach Emmaus, Jesus keeps on walking but Cleopas and his companion urge Jesus, with deep openness and hospitality, to stay with them.  After all, it is getting dark and these are dangerous times especially along a road less traveled. In the same way that a person’s faith enables Christ to heal, cure, and restore, I think that Cleopas and his friend so graciously welcoming Christ into their home is foundational to everything else that happens.

For me, The Trees has become a place that welcomes me when the road I’m traveling has become too hard or has lost some of its enchantment. It is a place of refuge from these times. A place where I can linger for a bit under a green canopy, even in this drought ridden season, see the wind move the leafy branches before I hear it, feel it touch my skin. A place where the Spirit moves and the ongoing Resurrection is close.

Wonder in the Woods for our Younger Friends 
in partnership with St. Philip's Children & Family Ministries 
Thursday, June 11 – Saturday, June 13 
9:00 am - 3:00 pm
$100

Open to children who are in preschool (age 4+ and potty trained by June 11, 2026) through those who will have completed 5th Grade. 
More information & Registration HERE

O hear us as this day we say grace;
this day we say grateful;
this day we say blessing;
this day we release you in God’s keeping
and hold you in gladness and love.
– Jan Richardson, Circle of Grace 

No writing on the solitary, meditative dimensions of life can say anything that has not already been said better by the wind in the pine trees....or the silence and peace that is "heard" when the rain wanders freely among the hills and forests.  But what can the wind say when there is no hearer?

– Thomas Merton, Thoughts on Solitude

We are so filled with abundance, trust, and deep hope here at The Trees. We are grateful for all donations to The Trees or gifts in honor or memory of a friend. This is a growing ministry and all resources are used to care for the house and the land. Gifts are tax deductible. Please let us know if you'd like your donation to support a particular project.