What Do You See When You Look At a Tree?

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Now the word of Yahweh came to me saying, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” And I said, “I see a rod of an almond tree.” Other than the gorgeous pine smell and luscious green look, there are plenty of reasons to arrange your presents under a real tree rather than an artificial alternatives: We know an uncaused cause would have to be unlimited in its being—that is to say, infinite. Every limited being (finite being) must have a cause, because it must have a sufficient explanation for why its mode of being—say, the mode of being a frog—was actualized and not some other possible mode of being, for instance, the mode of being a butterfly. But an uncaused cause can’t have a cause. Therefore, an uncaused cause must be infinite, or unlimited and unrestricted, in being. Moreover the word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, Jeremiah, what seest thou? And I said, I see a rod of an almond-tree.

And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying, 'What art thou seeing, Jeremiah?' And I say, 'A rod of an almond tree I am seeing.' Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying, Jeremiah, What seest thou? And I said, I see a rod of an almond-tree.We also know an uncaused cause would have to be absolutely simple. What this means is that it could not be composed of any parts whatsoever, whether physical or metaphysical. We’ve already seen in our reasoning how an uncaused cause would be metaphysically simple in that its nature (essence) would have to be identical to its act of being (existence). Imagine you see the caboose of the coupled train cars mentioned above passing by. What car is the caboose receiving its motion from? You might be inclined to say, “The moving car in front of it.” But then I would ask, “What is that car receiving its motion from?” and you would say, “The car in front of it,” and so on. Before we start thinking about Christmas tree trends, it's important to get the basics in place so that you can buy the right Christmas tree for your home. Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Jeremiah, what seest thou? And I said, I see a rod of an almond tree. Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying: 'Jeremiah, what seest thou?' And I said: 'I see a rod of an almond-tree.'

But adding an infinite number of instrumental existential causes doesn’t solve the problem. If a series of two instrumental existential causes can’t cause the tree to exist, then an infinite number of instrumental existential causes would not be able to do so either. This is no more possible than a caboose receiving motion from an infinite series of interlinked train cars without an engine car. Decisions, decisions, decisions The LORD showed me something in a vision. Then he asked, "What do you see, Jeremiah?" I answered, "A branch of almonds that ripen early." What left me wanting more: As a small thing, the poem can be a bit awkward in places. While it generally has an every other line rhyme, the choices feel a bit stilted in places with words that don't quite rhyme, which can cause some small stumbles when reading aloud.WHAT DO YOU SEE WHEN YOU LOOK AT A TREE? is a thoughtful book that invites children to think about the trees all around them. The story is written in the form of a poem as a series of questions. Instead of just thinking about trees as branches and leaves, the story invites children to consider the ways in which they are living beings who grow and are each unique. And it came to pass, that on the morrow Moses went into the tabernacle of witness; and, behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi was budded, and brought forth buds, and bloomed blossoms, and yielded almonds. Many more questions follow the title question. Readers are invited to think more about trees and their lives, differences and varieties, and about what trees offer to people. They may be good for climbing and shelter but they also offer life lessons in the ways they take care of each other in tree communities. Emma Carlisle spreads out a world of trees through rich illustrations in all shades of the colours of nature, adding to the steady, calm rhymes and half rhymes of the words. Light dapples through the branches of a woodland tree, wind bends the branches of trees that live in our streets, woodland creatures shelter in holes underneath roots and leaves are shed in winter. And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “What do you see, Jeremiah?” And I said, “I see a branch of an almond tree.”