This post is not just for the birds … it will relate to our own well-being, and to effective recovery skills for depression. But first, a question:

Could trees be alert, social and intelligent?  Recent studies say YES, in some surprising ways they are.  Check out these facts:

Trees are communal. They also form alliances with trees of other species. Our eyes look up, to their beautiful crowns, but much of the real action takes place below our feet. I am in awe of God’s divine designs.                                                                                                                                             

Peter Wohlleben, a German forester and author (The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate) explained …“Through underground fungal networks, trees share water and nutrients.” They communicate distress signals about drought and disease, or insect attacks. Other trees react to these messages. It’s been called the ‘wood-wide web’.

Trees also use pheromones and other scent signals. Wohlleben’s favorite example is the umbrella thorn acacia. On the African savannas, when a giraffe chews acacia leaves, the tree passes ethylene gas as a distress signal. Neighboring acacias detect this gas, and start pumping tannins into their leaves — which cause illness or even death, to a giraffe who eats large quantities. It’s a great defense and a natural appetite suppressor!

Clever giraffes browse into the wind, so the warning gas doesn’t reach the trees ahead. If there’s no wind, a giraffe usually walks 100 yards (farther than the gas can go in still air), before chewing on the next acacia.

Suzanne Simard and her grad students at the University of British Columbia offer more surprising examples:

GENEROSITY.  The biggest, oldest trees in the forest, with the most fungal connections, draw up water through their deep roots and give it to seedlings whose roots are shallow. Older trees also respond to distress signals by sending a flow of nutrients through the interconnected fungal and root systems.(Neighbor helps neighbor.)

All trees crave sunlight, but only 3% of the light reaches below a forest canopy. Young trees can’t catch the light for photosynthesis, and so older trees pump sugar to them.

COOPERATION.  A tall Birch can reach through the canopy to sunlight. The shorter Fir tree cannot. It remains shaded through the lush summer – and receives life-saving nutrients from the Birch.  In later season – the shorter, evergreen Fir stands in the sunlight of an open, leafless canopy – and pumps nutrients to the, now-naked, Birch.

SUPPORT.  Giant Sequoias grow hundreds of feet tall and thousands of years old. Their root systems may be less than 20 feet deep – but spread hundreds of feet out –connecting with others. They form a powerful intertwined support network. As neighboring trees (of all types) die, gaps open up in the forest. Winds blow through more easily. Without neighboring trees to support and stabilize against, and with less intertwined root systems to hold them, trees are more easily uprooted. Dr. Simard says trees “… live longest and reproduce most often in a healthy stable forest.” They need each other.

Trees of LIFE.  WE breathe cooperatively – taking in oxygen the trees generate and exhaling carbon dioxide, which nurtures them. Fruits of the forests offer beauty and many useful applications, including lessons we can apply to recovery from depression.

We (like the trees) have different gifts and limitations – which can work together.  We need each other.

By God’s design, interdependence is natural and necessary for health. It beautifully demonstrates the wisdom of His command to: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself.”

Conclusions:

• Walk, in God’s beautiful creation. Thank Him for it. Enjoying nature is a great strategy for easing the grip of depression and anxiety. Get out and DO IT.
• Prolonged isolation is not healthy. Words are not as important as fellowship. As we stand together, we are less easily uprooted. We can share our needs and support others too.
• Breathe deeply as you consider lessons from the trees:

– Stay grounded, and keep looking up.

– Remember to nourish your roots. Share your gifts.

– Reach out. Stay connected with others. Help each other stand.

– Bend in the wind before you break.

– Share the sunlight (Son’s light).

– Lift your arms (limbs) – to pray and to praise.

“In a forest of a hundred thousand trees, no two leaves are alike. And no two journeys along the same path are alike.”  ― Paulo Coelho

Blessings, Love and Laughter,

Margaret

Please share your thoughts.

PS: (Image by pixabay.com/users/Valiphotos)