by Gerrit Gielen

Long ago, trees and humans decided to go to Earth together as brothers and sisters. Earth was lost in the darkness, and they wanted to help by reconnecting it with the Sky.

When they arrived on Earth, all the trees stood up as straight as they could, pushed their roots deep into the ground and stretched their leafy branches high into the blue Sky.

“Each of us does their part in the place where we stand,” said the trees. “Look! All we have to do is stand tall and we will connect the Earth to the Sky, and everything will be fine.”

The trees knew who they were. They knew what they were doing, and they knew why they came to Earth. The Earth was beautiful once more, no longer left alone in the darkness. The trees were happy.

The people also stood up straight like the trees so they could help connect Earth with Sky. However, after a while, they became unhappy and they told the trees—“Now that the earth is so beautiful and in the Light, we want to roam, have adventures, and not stand still any longer although by doing so, we risk forgetting who we are.”

“Then, that is good for you to do,” said the trees.

“We will stay here and stand. But every time you see one of us, you will be reminded of who you really are and what you came here to do—which is to connect Heaven to Earth.”

The people were about to walk away when one little tree spoke and said, “We have only one request. Please take good care of Earth and help maintain her beauty.”

The people slowly walked away turning around again and again until the trees were out of sight.

© Gerrit Gielen

Edited by Suzy Conway