Then God said, ‘Let  the earth bring forth grass… Genesis 1:11-12.

It was a lovely, cool morning for a walk.  My dog Bandit bolted down the driveway, stopped at the road  and eyeballed me as to which direction  we’d take. He instinctively  knows when I’ll let him off leash to run and so it was. Below our  house, we turned onto the dirt road which wanders up the mountainside for several miles;  unfortunately it’s  plastered with “Private, No Trespassing, No Hunting”   signs and has at least three gates to keep people like me out.  However, Dan  advised there’s an  original right of way for the development so I figured the lawyer knows and it’s OK. I’ve never run into anyone in the dozens of times I’ve walked. Occasionally a few raucous ravens break the stillness to scold us, but the forest  bordering  the road is  beautiful and quiet in the mornings,  my dog  runs free and we’re both happy.

I am always fascinated  how  the forest is more than just “green.”  Once as a writing exercise, I listed vocabulary words to describe  “green”. Dozens came to mind. Many synonyms associate green with the natural world. My imaginary green crayon box holds emerald, pine, moss, sage, olive  and apple green. There’s sea foam green,  grey green of storm clouds,  bright green of  spring buds and the forest floor’s brackish green  carpeting. All around me  and my  energetic dog God planted every imaginable shade of green, from the lightest, brightest yellow green lichen attached to pine bark,  to the  dark green mausoleum  recesses  where sunlight  can’t  penetrate.  I wonder what grand green palette God has  stored  for us in heaven!

Our God created infinite variety in green forests. No two leaves or pine needles are exactly alike.  No tree touches  the heavens  or stretches its branches in the  same way.  No shrubs  are exact mirror images.   Wildflowers appear willy nilly. The more I look, the greater the seeing. It’s a vast green  landscape of texture, color and hue,  affected by the sun’s slanting light, by wind and shadow and seasons.  

  In high school science I learned that grass  is green because it contains chlorophyll and is  affected by light wavelengths.  That fact alone  is dizzying  because it points to the vaster, invisible molecular activities of life. More so is knowing that   all  green plant life takes in the carbon dioxide I exhale, breaks it apart  for fuel and  releases   oxygen which humans need to breathe. Only God can come up with such an astounding,  complex plan for life which I receive. Like the Psalm 8, in awe I  consider the  marvelous work of His Hands.

I took a walk this morning and found more than  trees  along the way.  The same Spirit that hovered over the deep  in Genesis,  the same Spirit who breathed life into all Creation,  is the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead. By my faith in Jesus, the Holy Spirit now breathes  new life into  me while all  the marvelously wrought  green trees sigh in obedience and agreement.