All the leaves fell off my catalpa tree in a single day. In full foliage, it’s a dense mass of huge flat leaves. 

            Something about an unexpectedly early snowfall, coupled with an overnight cold snap, triggered a reflex in every leaf, leading them to separate from their parent tree.

            The tree looks quite different now. Bare branches stand gaunt against a grey sky. I can see right through it. 

            Some years ago, I was given a book called Trees in a Winter Landscape, by Alice Upham Smith. 

            Most of the year, she suggested, we know trees by their leaves. 

            Every Canadian knows the distinctive maple leaf. Almost as many would recognize an oak leaf. In the north, the aspen’s two-sided leaf -- dark and light -- shimmers in the wind. 

            But trees are just as distinctive in winter, Upham Smith said. Now you can see the tree’s internal structure. 

            Do the branches come off the trunk in pairs, on opposite sides? Or are they individualists? 

            Do the branches reach for the sky, like a poplar? Do they spread horizontally like an oak?

            Do the end twigs arc upwards? Or droop downwards?

            All these characteristics are concealed by the mass of leaves during the spring and summer. The underlying structure doesn’t become visible until the leaves fall. 

A winter of discontent

            I think that might be true for more than just trees.

            “Now is the winter of our discontent,” wrote Shakespeare. His phrase seems to fit our times.

            Covid-19 restrictions are forcing many of us, and our organizations, to re-think what we’ve been doing for years.

            Some churches have put their standard Sunday service on line, the same service they’ve done for years, but without any participants present.

            Others have experimented. Some have treated worship services as online lectures. Still others, as discussion groups.

            The most imaginative, to my mind, have mixed live liturgies, online discussions, and pre-recorded video segments.

            But that’s not a universally applicable structure.

            Cubs and Scouts, Guides and Brownies, have long depended on group rituals and group activities. When you can’t gather in a circle or horseshoe, when you can’t stuff a tent full of kids, how do you sustain a program?

            Ten-year-old children are not capable of joining in Zoom discussions of philosophical principles.

            Some organizations have structures as rigid as any oak tree -- pages and pages of regulations for meetings, attendance, leadership, all designed for pre-pandemic conditions. Some of those clubs have now dumped the rule book; they’ve said, in effect, “Do whatever you have to do.”

            Sports leagues have recognized that it’s the game that counts, not the count of fans screaming from the sidelines.

Friendships when leaves fall away

            On a more personal level, how do we maintain friendships, when the day-to-day activities that we shared are shut down? When the superficial leaves fall away, do we still have a solid trunk holding us up?

            Fear of Covid infection pushes us toward either hibernation or denial. Denial puts our friends at risk; hibernation encourages friendships to wither, like those autumn leaves.

            Ideally, self-isolation would lead to self-examination. Now that we can see past the leaves, in our lives and our organizations, are we doing things that keep the tree healthy?

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Copyright © 2020 by Jim Taylor. Non-profit use in congregations and study groups, and links from other blogs, welcomed; all other rights reserved.

                  To comment on this column, write jimt@quixotic.ca

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YOUR TURN

Frank Martens wrote about last week’s column, on St.Corona as the patron saint of plagues and pestilences: “I love the grand irony of this column.”

            James Russell had similar sentiments: “I can’t help wondering:  Who is the patron saint of irony?”

            JT: I looked for the patron saint of irony, and couldn’t find one -- thereby contradicting my own claim that there’s a patron said for everything. But St. Jude is the patron said for lost causes. Did you catch that one?

Bob Rollwagen suggested we should invoke “St Anthony, if we hope that a majority of the planet’s population might start wearing a mask. The need is obvious, and illustrates respect to others. As to the historical role of cruelty and the lack of respect for human life by those with power, I am not so sure we have totally left these approaches.  Some world leaders and some societies have just modernized and disguised them.

            “Fear is a strong human trait and has greater impact on the lesser-informed, whoever they may be.  Fear is very abstract in the minds of those threatened. Threats can be easily veiled. We see this frequently in global events and some would suggest, in the streets of our communities.

            “The next big such event might be this coming Tuesday or Wednesday. Let’s remember St Jude. [JT: see above]”

Florence Driedger harkened back to the previous week’s column, about unfinished business: “I am happy Soft Edges is not completed.  I look forward to each edition. It would be missed if it were ended.  Thank you for continuing to relate to all of us.”

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Psalm paraphrase

I wish I could include a picture of a community gathered around a campfire, the darkness of the night hovering over their shoulders, as they listen to the storytellers among them. Because that’s what I think Psalm 78 is about.

1          When I say, "Once upon a time," everyone knows a story will start.

2          I do not know the meanings of my stories;
I merely pass them on as they were passed to me.

3          Only you can decide what they mean to you.

4          For this is our family story.
If you hear this story, you must also tell it,
so that others can also know where they came from.

5          Our story is not limited to our own lives.
We belong to a long line of travelers, snaking single file through history;
We bear with us the beliefs, the convictions, the experiences
bequeathed to us by those who passed this way before.
From Abraham and Sarah, from Rachel and Jacob, 
from David and Bathsheba, from Mary and Jesus, we learn our family story.

6          Only by knowing where we have come from can we know where we are going.

7          Only by knowing who we are can we know that God is with us.

You can find paraphrases of most of the psalms in the Revised Common Lectionary in my book Everyday Psalmsavailable from Wood Lake Publishing, info@woodlake.com.

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TECHNICAL STUFF

If you want to comment on something, send a message directly to me, jimt@quixotic.ca.

                  To subscribe or unsubscribe, send an e-mail message to jimt@quixotic.ca. Or you can subscribe electronically by sending a blank e-mail (no message or subject line) to softedges-subscribe@lists.quixotic.ca. Similarly, you can un-subscribe at softedges-unsubscribe@lists.quixotic.ca.

                  I write a second column each Sunday called Sharp Edges, which tends to be somewhat more cutting about social and justice issues. To sign up for Sharp Edges, write to me directly, jimt@quixotic.ca, or send a note to sharpedges-subscribe@lists.quixotic.ca

                  And for those of you who like poetry, please check my webpage .https://quixotic.ca/My-Poetry I posted several new poetic works there a few weeks ago. If you’d like to receive notifications about new poems, write me at jimt@quixotic.ca, or subscribe yourself to the list by sending a blank email (no message) to poetry-subscribe@lists.quixotic.ca (If it doesn’t work, please let me know.)

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PROMOTION STUFF

To use the links in this section, you’ll have to insert the necessary symbols. Some spam filters have blocked my posts because they’re suspicious of some of the web links.

                  Wayne Irwin's “Churchweb Canada,” an inexpensive service for any congregation wanting to develop a web presence, with free consultation. http://wwwDOTchurchwebcanadaDOTca He’s also relatively inexpensive!

                  I recommend Isabel Gibson’s thoughtful and well-written blog, wwwDOTtraditionaliconoclastDOTcom. She also has lots of beautiful photos. Especially of birds.

                  Tom Watson writes a weekly blog called “The View from Grandpa Tom’s Balcony” -- ruminations on various subjects, and feedback from Tom’s readers. Write him at tomwatsoATgmailDOTcom (NB that’s “watso” not “watson”)

ALVA WOOD’S ARCHIVE

                  I have acquired (don’t ask how) the complete archive of the late Alva Wood’s collection of satiric and sometimes wildly funny columns about a mythical village’s misadventures. I’ve put them on my website: http://quixotic.ca/Alva-Wood-Archive. You’re welcome to browse. No charge. (Although maybe if I charged a fee, more people would find the archive worth visiting.)