Majestic Posts of Nature

   “Majestic, tall, strong, powerful, life giving!”  This is how Smile Henry, a writer on line described something. What could this thing be?  Does something like this really exist? I tell you, it does, although at present, its existence is threatened. As a matter of fact, in the heart of a common city, this thing has come to the point of near-extinction! Reason: City-dwellers have simply left no room for it to thrive on! In rural areas, although it is still a common sight, it seems to have degenerated in size, in length, in everything! And mind you, it flourishes only where humans scarcely go. And, so what is this that we civilized people have so savagely robbed of its habitation? I tell you, it is trees!
    While some people may find trees as an unlikely topic for a conversation or a dull subject for an essay, I find them just the opposite.  I love to talk about them because I realize that trees are God’s gift to us. They, together with every other thing that belongs to our Mother Nature, manifest God’s abounding love for His children. The trees, the majestic posts of nature, do not only give us timber of which we build our homes, but they also protect us from storms. Their sturdy trunks and branches can block the stormy wind which may otherwise leave its path painfully free of anything. Their powerful roots can hold the soil in place; thus, preventing disastrous erosions! These and a thousand more other reasons are why man should be concerned about trees.
    When God created the world, He instructed man to take care of his environment. He was supposed to preserve the pristine beauty and condition of nature not only for his own sake, but for the sake of all future generations. After all, we get our basic needs—food and water, clothing, and shelter—from nature. Because of this, it is but proper that we protect it, particularly the trees, which man has been indiscriminately cutting down for years now.
    We, at Baguio Seventh-day Adventist School (BSDAS), believe in the God-given instructions to man back in the Garden of Eden. That is why we support programs that promote the care of our environment. That is why we have a yearly trek to Busol Watershed of Baguio City—to plant pine saplings in the muyong assigned to our school!
    Carrying our saplings, we again visited the place on September 6, 2013. Oh, how I relish this once-a-year hike in the forest! It is a rare privilege, a much-needed break from the hustle and bustle in the city, an opportunity to commune with the Almighty!
    On our way to our muyong, I allowed myself the luxury of inhaling fresh air deeply and let some tall grass prick my bare arms freely. As  my friends and I clambered, I attempted to count the imposing pines whose needles covered the ground we were treading, but as I expected, I failed because the trees were just too many to number. What I did not fail to do was to remember that those trees play a very important role in preventing man from becoming an endangered species!

-Bienedict Bilog