124 - Tu B'Shevat

February 1, the 15th of Shevat, is the holiday of Tu B’Shevat, the New Year of the Trees. It is a time to plant and plan, to think about nourishing the earth as we nourish our hope for growth and change. An old story relates how at midnight on Tu B’Shevat, the trees reach out their branches and embrace. So should we reach out to embrace life, our own healing and the healing of others. Plant something on Tu B’Shevat; plant your own future.

One Hundred Twenty-Four

Tu B’Shevat

Move me, Source of Strength
From bone frost, tear freeze,
And let my heart gaze at the Golden City,
Jeweled in green trees.

Lift me from here-now.
Let me watch the children come
With plastic buckets, trowels and spades
To plant the nourishing trees.

Nourish my heart, Mind Warmer,
Nourish my mind’s eye with this fertile redemption.
Let me watch these tender stems of tomorrow’s strength
As young ones hold them aloft and bless You.

Nourish me with the planting.
Warm me as I begin my own planting,
Burrowing in unsteady ground
To bless Your future plans.