Have you noticed that trees pay an important role in all our lives? Wood is used for the construction of our houses and furniture, for printing newspapers, magazines and books. Fishing boats and the humble rowing boat we may well use for a trip on the river are all constructed in wood. Then there are the birds and various small mammals that all live in the safety of the trees. But I bet you didn’t know that trees talk to each other? Have you never walked through a wood and heard the rustling of trees having a whispered conversation with each other?

There is a story told of three trees that grew beside each other in a large forest and they were all good friends. They would often talk about what they would like to be used for, when it was their time to be cut down.

The first tree said that he would like to be associated with youth, so he would like to be made into a baby’s cradle or perhaps some wooden toys.

The second tree said that he would like to be used to make an ocean going liner and to travel all over the world to visit exotic countries.

The third tree said that he had stood for many years pointing up to heaven and reminding everyone that there is a God in heaven, who loves them all, so he would like to be used in a way that reminded people of truth and beauty in this painful world.

Then came the day when the foresters came and cut down the first tree. It was made not into a cradle, but into an animal’s feeding trough, but not just any old trough, it became the manger in which our Lord was laid.

The second tree was cut down and was used not for an ocean liner, but a humble fishing boat, but not just any fishing boat. It became the boat in which Jesus sat while preaching to the crowds on the Sea of Galilee.

The third tree was also cut down and it was made into a simple wooden cross, upon which our Lord Jesus Christ was crucified.

An instrument of torture and death, which now became the symbol of hope, resurrection and eternal life for all.