Trees

I’m trying to describe to my publisher what I would like the cover of my book to feature, and now I think I want it to feature a tree. If I could name one image that gives me hope it would be an image of a tree. Trees are so helpful to our planet and they also vary so greatly in shade of green. My favorite images are of dark green trees in light fog with sunshine radiating through the leaves. The dark leaves illuminated by the sun become light, fresh, crisp, and bright green. Such an image reminds me of grace and God’s goodness.

Trees are also a part of the cross of Jesus, and I have a tree tattoo on my wrist. There was a tree in the midst of the garden, but there is also the tree of life.

My house in the Pacific Northwest is surrounded by pine trees, but they don’t light up light green, so I don’t want a pine tree on the cover. There is also an apple tree in the backyard, that’s a little too biblically obvious.

The health of trees shapes a lot of the health of the environment. They are important.

When I was first coming down with schizoaffective disorder, my psychiatrist told me to get out in nature. The most hope-filled and hope-full nature-based image is that of the tree. I recommend finding a tree that inspires you and going out to visit it everyday.

Here are some images that speak to me (aside from the featured image of this post, which is also beautiful):

• The above tree reminds me of the tree of good and evil in the garden of Eden, which goes with one of the sermons in my forthcoming book. The risk is there isn’t a lot of movement in the picture. It looks a little stagnant. I want an upward motion and lightness at the top. The above one has a frame of dark green.

• This tree above reminds me of the title of my book, Emergent Grace, because the tree is emerging from the mossy ground. I really really like this picture. And the light green shrubbery has the right atmosphere and there is light at the top. This would probably be my top choice.

Finally, this tree above is hopeful because the light is emerging from behind the trees. That also goes with Emergent Grace, my title. So if there are pine trees on the cover, light coming through them would still impart a sense of light green that gives hope. But it doesn’t look as professional.

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