The Healer’s Tree: A Bible-based Resource on Ecology, Peace and Justice

The Healer’s Tree is a book of 28 short readings and reflections in response to the call back to the garden, back to full relationship with God and all creation. It reflects on the struggle to make sense of living as mortals who are drawn by spiritual aspirations and a desire for God but are also bound to the earth and one another with a need to find real faith-based responses to the ecological and humanitarian dilemmas facing the world. Hearing the call and responding, we see life differently. ‘Self ’ loses its power, the illusion of isolation ends, for all creation is interconnected. It is not just we who are renewed; all creation depends on our return for its renewal. Suitable for group or individual use, each reflection includes a biblical quotation, a passage of prose, a prayer, questions for reflection, often relating to further biblical passages, and a closing thought. Some reflections are suitable for use as visualisations - an exercise where one person reads while others imagine the scene described in a state of relaxation, or where a person alone imagines the scene after reading it several times. However, the reflections are not written with the expectation that everybody will wish to use them in this way. A selection of the readings can be made around particular themes to form a series for Lent, Advent, Creation Season and other times, or for a retreat on a specific subject.