By Joseph Bonasia
Recently, my wife and I moved to Wesley Chapel from Cape Coral, where our home was flooded by Hurricane Ian and where we expected it to be flooded again. We were attracted to a rural, heavily wooded part of Wesley Chapel, where deer are common and roosters crow, and to the majestic live oak trees on our new property.
Strong, deep-rooted, living hundreds of years and towering skyward even as their massive limbs reach out expansively, these trees evoke awe. Sitting in their quiet, protective shade is like sitting in a chapel. It can inspire spiritual reflection, humility and peace.
John and Charles Wesley, founders of Methodism — after whom a Methodist chapel on Route 54 was named, from which Wesley Chapel took its current name — prayed and preached under a live oak tree on St. Simons Island, Georgia, in 1736. That tree was called Wesley Oak and, living into the 1920s, witnessed much of America’s history.
Oak trees have for millennia symbolized strength, endurance and wisdom for different cultures and faiths, including Judeo-Christianity. The Bible mentions oaks 60 times. It was under oak trees that God appeared to Abraham. Isaiah speaks of “oaks of righteousness.”
Sitting beneath these trees, it is easy to understand why the World Council of Churches (WCC), a fellowship of 356 churches from more than 120 countries, representing over 580 million Christians worldwide, says, “We acknowledge that this Earth, and the intricate web of life that it so wonderfully and abundantly sustains, is God’s precious and unique Creation,” and why, in “Laudato Si,’” Pope Francis wrote about “ecological spirituality.”
Ecological spirituality was likely one reason folks attended an outdoor Easter Sunday service at Our Lady of the Rosary Roman Catholic Church in Wesley Chapel, where the sun broke brilliantly over treetops during Holy Communion. Returning home from that service, my wife and I saw what we always see when returning home: a neighbor’s small sign that says, “Don’t stop praying.”
President Donald Trump has invited Americans to participate in a National Jubilee of Prayer, Praise, and Thanksgiving, on May 17, which will highlight the role that prayer and faith have played in our nation’s 250-year history. The Religion News Service reports the speakers are almost entirely conservative Christians, a key part of the president’s political base.
Christian beliefs and values, however, play no notable role in the president’s environmental policies.
The WWC states, “As Christians, our faith in God the Creator is inseparably linked with our public advocacy for all Creation.” It recognizes that, “We have brought this Living Planet to the verge of tipping points that imperil the natural systems on which our lives and those of all future generations depend.”
The Council emphasizes that the “science of climate change has been abundantly clear for many years,” and it strongly champions climate justice and a swift transition from fossil fuels to 100% renewable energy.
Pope Leo, building on past papal efforts, emphasizes that climate action is a spiritual imperative and responsibility. He, too, urges a quick and just transition to clean, renewable energies.
In contrast, President Trump says climate change is a “hoax” and “the greatest con job in history” and is implementing policies in direct opposition to what climate science and faith traditions, including Judeo-Christianity, indicate we need to do.
Because his stance on climate change conflicts with overwhelming scientific consensus, the president has removed climate information from federal websites, approved scientifically unsound reports that favor fossil fuels, and gutted key scientific agencies and boards. He is not being honest with the American people.
He has cancelled environmental justice grants, shut down environmental justice offices, opened up millions of acres of national forestland and circumvented the Endangered Species Act.
There’s much more, and little, if any, of it aligns with Christian beliefs and values.
In 2004, citing it as much a symbol of America as Thanksgiving Day and the bald eagle, Congress designated the oak as America’s national tree. Officials noted that U.S.S. Constitution was nicknamed “Old Ironsides” during the War of 1812 after its hull, made with live oak, rebuffed British cannon balls. American oak trees symbolize the enduring strength and resilience of our people and nation.
During the National Jubilee of Prayer, I will sit under the oak tree in my yard, which may have already been growing when the U.S.S. Constitution was under attack, and pray that Americans demonstrate the strength and resilience needed to meet the environmental and political challenges we now face and vote accordingly in November.
Joseph Bonasia is a board member of the SWFL RESET Center. Banner photo: Live oaks in Joseph Bonasia’s yard (Joseph Bonasia photo).
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