THE GOD
WHO GIVES The drive from Edinburgh to London in 1965 took us through the legendary Sherwood Forest. At the tourist centre not far from the Major Oak, Robin Hood's traditional meeting spot, we learned that the vast forest once covered more than 100,000 acres. A recent AP article said that the forest has been reduced to "about 450 acres, with patches spread throughout Nottingham County." For a thousand years the forest has been giving of itself to provide food from the farms that have been cleared, shelter from the Sherwood oaks, warmth from the coal deposits under its land, timber to build ships, and even churches and abbeys built to the honor of GodCincluding London's St. Paul's Cathedral. But the forest can only give so much before it disappears, sacrificed to the needs of men and women who seek to eke out an existence from the fruits of the earth. I have discovered years ago that so-called children=s books can be more instructional to adults if grown-ups would only probe their deeper meanings, books like The Velveteen Rabbit, The Phantom Tollbooth, and The Little Prince. The plight of Sherwood Forest reminds me of Shel Silverstein's book, The Giving Tree. It is about a boy who everyday would visit the tree to eat her apples, swing on her branches, and sit in her shade. As the boy grew older he wanted more and more from the tree, and the tree continued to give. In the end, it is an old man who returns and the tree has nothing left to give except its old stump. And the boy sat down and rested. "And the tree was happy." It struck me that the boy never once said "thank you." And that the tree was always happy to give. I'm not sure how long we can continue to take from the earth as we diminish its forests, over-harvest its oceans, deplete its fossil fuels, and poison its air. The earth is getting tired and may not have that much more to give. And we still have yet to express our appreciation by taking care of what God continually bestows upon us. November is a season of giving thanks to a beneficent Creator who has bestowed the blessings of a wonderful planet that enables life to prosper. But even more so, this bountiful God continues to endow us with more than mere sustenance. God gives us the assurance that we are not alone in the universe, that we are loved, that we are forgiven, that we are cared for, and that we are more than what we appear to be. It is necessary for us to say "thank you" by living a life of gratitude and by taking care of the wonderful gifts God has given us. If "thank you" is the only prayer that we can offer, said Meister Eckhart, it will be enough, but it must be a prayer from the heart and find expression in our deeds.
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