Pearl insists that I share more with you about The Living Library. It took us a great deal of time to learn these things, but they do give hopefulness. Pearl thinks it would be good for us to gather up all that we have learned about The Living Library these past few years to share with our readers so that you can benefit as well.

If you have ever seen a tree in the springtime covered with colorful songbirds, you may have seen what is called a “Healing Tree.”

The feathers of the songbirds give the impression of glass Christmas ornaments when the sun shines on them, and this is sharply contrasted by the darker silhouettes of the tree limbs.

Before you are carried away by what you are seeing, you will definitely want to spend time listening to the songbirds who have assembled themselves there to sing. Listen as their notes sink into your heart.

You may be wondering how a Healing Tree is able to heal and who they are able to heal. A Healing Tree is for the healing of the Earth, and by healing the Earth, a Healing Tree is able to heal hundreds if not thousands of people and animals.

A Healing Tree starts out like any other tree—as a seed.

While it is up to a person to select a seed or seedling that will grow into a Healing Tree, the person does not know that this is what they are doing. No one truly wakes up and says, “Today I’m going to plant a Healing Tree! I’m going to grow a Healing Tree!”

What the person actually does is find a tree that is pleasant for sitting under while contemplating the ones who are loved. This is what happened in our own backyard.

At one time, there was a large pecan tree in our backyard beyond where our large chicken coop now stands. Before it was blown over by a harsh spring storm, The Grandfather had sat down under the tree and had daily prayed for his grandson, Nate.

Then one spring morning, Nate arrived with Teddy and his suitcase. While exploring the backyard and garden, Nate discovered a small seedling that had sprouted up. It would also grow into a pecan tree because it came from a nut seed made by the large pecan tree. Nate adopted it as his own without knowing that it truly was his own because of all the prayers with which the Grandfather had nourished it.

Although The Healing Tree would ensure Nate’s eventual happiness, it would never to be a wish-granting tree for Nate. In other words, he would never benefit by receiving a flashy new car or a pile of money from the tree, only the unseen happiness in his heart which he would pass along to others.

It is the songbirds themselves who make any tree into a healing tree. They do this by assembling as a group on its branches and then, simply singing. The songbirds must first feel the love that is poured out beneath the tree’s branches by a person, or they will not sing. The songbirds multiply the love they feel to fill the tree’s branches with it through their singing. It is the soaking in of that multiplied love that makes it a true Healing Tree.

It doesn’t not matter if the love is poured out for another in joyful presence or in sorrowful absence. Over time, a Healing Tree is able to change the feeling of sorrowful absence into joyful presence. This is the true healing that a Healing Tree performs.

Pearl realized this when she heard a wren begin a song soon after Blanche became sick and left us:

“Whenever someone changes,
And you have to let them go,
It leaves an echo of a memory
Like a song you used to know.”

These words were picked up and sung again and again by the entire tree filled with songbirds helped Pearl to let go of the sorrow from Blanche’s leaving so that she could recover her joy again.

Assembling themselves like this is something that songbirds have done since chickens began to be kept on farms. This lets us know how important Healing Trees are to both songbirds and chickens.

Until Next Time: Why not think of yourself as a songbird on a Healing Tree? Think of yourself as someone who is here to help heal the people of the earth. Your words and your prayers can help turn their feelings of sorrow into feelings of joy. Watch for the multiplication of what is good and healing for the heart and spirit!