You Are a Tree

Joy Marie Clarkson had spent most of her life as a potted plant, but realized she was ready to become a tree. Metaphorically speaking, of course. Joy is a writer, so metaphors are her stock-in-trade. And she doesn't just apply them to herself, but also observes how they are used in our culture. Lately, Joy noticed that our terminology often compares human beings to computers, as if we were machines. A more fitting comparison, Joy believes, is to take inspiration from the Bible and view our lives like a tree and all that entails. She shares her insights in the book, You Are a Tree: and Other Metaphors to Nourish Life, Thought, and Prayer.

When she was growing up, Joy's family moved 16 times. After college, she pursued graduate studies and worked in various universities internationally, which led to her relocating 10 more times. As she was packing up her apartment for yet another new season of life, she noticed a plant that had gotten scraggly because it had grown so much that the pot it was in was too small to contain it.

Joy realized, "Oh my gosh, I'm a potted plant! I've grown too much to fit into my little portable life. If I'm going to grow anymore, then I need to be in a place where I can have roots and sunshine." Joy's mind turned to imagery from Scripture, specifically Psalm 1, which states, "The blessed person will be like a tree which is planted by streams of living water, which bears its fruit in season, and all that it does prospers."

That passage, explained Joy during a Christopher Closeup interview, helped her put words to the epiphany that "as human beings, we need to be rooted somewhere: to people, to a particular place; that we need sources of nourishment; and even that we have seasons . . . when we are fruitful and there’s abundance of harvest - but there are also seasons of winter."

Trees can even teach us about community. For instance, while trees seem to be isolated individual entities, their roots below the surface reach beyond what the eye can see and intermingle with the roots of other trees. If one tree is lacking in nourishment, the other trees sustain it by passing along some of theirs. When a person is facing difficult times, he or she can also receive nourishment if enough people reach out to build that person up.

These ideas are more compatible with humanity than the computer imagery we often use about ourselves, when we speak of "processing things" or "downloading information." Also, when we think of ourselves as machines, we are denigrating an essential part of our humanity. Computers, for instance, are designed for a functional purpose. If a computer stops functioning, you get rid of it. Humans, on the other hand, reflect the image and likeness of God. And while we do contribute to society, we possess an inherent dignity. Humans should never, therefore, be considered disposable.

Joy noted, "The metaphors we use shape how we live. So, if I describe myself as a machine . . . then I expect myself to act like a machine. I get frustrated when I don't have the same amount of energy every day. . . . The metaphor makes me feel bad for being a human being and not being like a machine. In that case, you need other metaphors to help you describe what's happening inside of you and help you think about what it looks like to be a human."

This essay is this a recent "Light One Candle" column by Tony Rossi, Director of Communications, The Christophers; it is one of a series of weekly columns that deal with a variety of topics and current events.

Background information:

The Christophers