Tundergath Old Kirk

The remains of Tundergath Old Kirk sit in the shadow of their taller, airier replacement in southern Scotland. It is somewhat forlorn and melancholic, as ruined churches inevitably present. Yet in its walls one could see a tree’s root. Whether it had grown above the ruins and considered the masonry as good as soil, or whether the roots had climbed up from below, which seems less likely, I cannot tell. Yet here is a church wall with a tree working through it.

It set me wondering about the two most famous trees of Eden: Life, and the Knowledge of Good and Evil. One represented faithful obedience, the other disobedience coupled with carnal knowledge. I suggest that each of these trees continues to grow, figuratively, in and through our churches. One brings us to God, the other appeals to our senses and pleasures, but results in our expulsion from all that is good and wholesome. Which tree roots itself in our church?

To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified. Isaiah 61:3

A. D.