The Bad-News-Good-News of Thai Tree Trimming

I am not a fan of Thai tree trimming. 

In a tropical climate like Thailand with rain six months of the year, you can imagine how much and how fast green things grow. I love the green, and I love big trees. But at some point, those big trees lose leaves (which must be swept), and sometimes those big trees must be trimmed (preferably before losing said leaves). 

Having grown up in a non-tropical climate, I have a different idea of what tree trimming should look like. I’m no arborist, but I prefer to see something that still looks like a tree when the trimming is over. Here, that is not the way it goes.

Trees like this:

become this:

or this:

or this:

What’s left? Stacks of branches and wood to be hauled off for burning, and an ugly tall tree trunk. To me, it is less tree “trimming” and more tree “hacking”—pruning gone wrong.

What is good pruning supposed to do? Pruning creates the opportunity for new life and further fruitfulness. Jesus (arborist-extraordinaire, Creator of trees and vines and everything else in the cosmos for that matter) tells us that God is our gardener, and as we live in Jesus as branches in a vine, we too are pruned:

“Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit.”

— John 15:2 (ESV)

Life in Jesus requires spiritual pruning, and while it may not feel pleasant, it is for our good and for the fruitfulness of our lives and the kingdom of God as a whole. 

These days, life as we had known it is being turned upside down and sideways and blended up and shaken out in many directions, often several times in one day. We can’t attend or “do” church as we’re used to, and watching or singing with a worship band pieced together Brady-Bunch-style on a 16:9 screen doesn’t have the same feel as being in a Sunday morning service with the instruments and amps and lights. 

Our current pruning feels more like Thai tree trimming.

I wonder if God is inviting us in this time to consider what is essential (and not jobs or stores to keep running). What is most important? What is most necessary? When we don’t have the instruments and amps and lights, can we still worship? When we don’t have our weekly Bible study or youth group, can we still dig into His word? Can we still pray? Can we still be before Him?

The good news about Thai tree trimming:

Trees grow back. Rain comes, growing things grow, and the trees sprout leaves and bear fruit. 

This season will not last forever. No guarantees about how long it will be, and no guarantees on what “normal” will look like when it’s over! But it will not last forever. This time of what feels like severe pruning gone wrong can be a time to grow deep roots and prepare for fruitful seasons ahead.

The bad news about Thai tree trimming:

Some years down the road, the tree will have to be trimmed again. 

The good news:

The tree will grow after that too. And again after it’s trimmed again. And so on. 

The best news:

This pruning that produces future fruitfulness also produces glory for our Father (John 15:8). And that makes all the pruning worth it.