Prayer Tree

Out of the Victorian bushfire devastation new growth is coming. This is happening to some trees faster than others. It is odd to see such a phenomenon in a scorched landscape. The new life gives us all hope.

For our all age church service just past, we reflected on this new life with a prayer tree. Instead of prayers spoken from the front, everybody was given a paper leaf to write their prayers on (or draw if they were too young to write) and when done to carry the leaf to the dead tree on stage. There were plenty of activity and plenty little blu-tac blobs to stick the leaves on and soon our prayer tree had come to life. It was a helpful alternative, our church family writing prayer notes to God, walking up to the front with them and creating a collective life-giving story of nature about us.

The leaves had to be cut. But the shape of the gum leaf allows an easy flowing cut so the job was completed faster than first thought.