The righteous man is a green tree planted by a river, the people of God are cedars and palms in the temple, the lover in the Song of Songs climbs his beloved to gather the fruit of love.
People are trees, and trees are ladders to heaven. Jesus is the tree of life, on whom we ascend to the Father. In Christ and the Spirit, each Christian is also a ladder to heaven: Husbands for their wives and vice versa, parents for their children and vice versa, pastors for their people and vice versa.
Nobody climbs a shrub to touch the clouds. We need to stretch all the way up to the sky if others are going to ascend on us. We can’t boost anyone higher than we’ve grown ourselves.
We grow to heaven by persevering in basics. Read, hear, inwardly digest the word. Pray without ceasing. Sing Psalms and hymns. Feast at the Lord’s table. Share your gifts with the body. Show hospitality. Bear witness to those who are outside Christ.
Do all this in the power of the Spirit, and we will become a forest where each tree lifts others to God.
Dear Reader,
Can I be direct with you?
War abroad. Socialists on the rise. AI upending human life. Endless uproar online. The modern attention economy doesn’t want readers — it wants users enslaved to the tyranny of the present.
First Things is the antidote: literary excellence, timeless truths, and a fixed point of reference in a culture that has lost its bearings.
But we can’t do it without readers like you.
Our goal: Raise $150,000 by November 1 to sustain First Things in the year ahead.
Your gift anchors readers in the permanent things.
Make your Fall Campaign gift now using the button below.
If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact Giovanni Del Piero, Director of the Editor’s Circle, at gdelpiero@firstthings.com or 212-627-1985.
YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE
The Church in the Age of Therapy
In 1966, Philip Rieff wrote in The Triumph of the Therapeutic that “Religious man was born to…
Canada’s Deadliest Blind Spot
On September 20, the Daily Mail ran a story with the provocative headline, “Our 83-year-old Christian grandmother…
The Faithful Joy of Dolly Parton and Fulton Sheen
Dolly Parton and Fulton Sheen seem to have had little in common. She favored rhinestones; he wore…
