Wild WonderSample

CATHEDRALS OF CREATION

If you’ve ever been inside an old cathedral, especially one in Europe, you might have noticed how many people are buried there. Cathedrals often double as tombs for monarchs, artists, and other historical figures.

Just as the cathedrals of old give us a chance to walk among ghosts, the “cathedrals” of ancient forests allow us to do the same.

When an old tree finally falls, its rotting corpse and the stump that remains become a nursery for new life. As the tree decays, it creates the perfect conditions for seedlings to grow and multiply. These nurseries of new life are referred to as “nurse logs” and can be a powerful metaphor for death, redemption, legacy, and new creation.

Whether or not you’ve lost a loved one yourself, you have undoubtedly experienced some kind of loss, disappointment, or challenge. Perhaps you’ve lost a job or find yourself in a situation that isn’t working out. Maybe a relationship you’ve clung to is beginning to slip away.

Whatever your situation, let go and let death do its full work. When choosing this way, we embrace a sense of uncertainty and mystery, but we also welcome hope and healing into our lives and our world.

I’m not saying this is easy because even creation groans in longing for the day of renewal (Romans 8:20-22). But death in nature teaches us that this is not the end. There is hope and new life on the horizon.

Speaking of his own resurrection, Jesus said, “Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds” (John 12:24).

Death is inevitable—both for us and for creation—but it also won’t have the last word. And it’s a gift to be invited into the new, even when it hurts. Eventually, there will come a time for our own “tree" to fall, and something new will grow out of the life and legacy we leave behind.

Try some forest bathing by spending intentional time near trees. While doing so, reflect on what you may need to let go of, and then dream about what might take its place. Make space for your grief, as well as your hope.