Big Lonely Doug and Cathedral of the Trees

Big Lonely Doug, Douglas Fir, Port Renfrew, British Columbia (note the size of the climber)

Emily Carr is one of Canada's foremost painters. A curious soul, she created in relative obscurity on the West Coast, eventually catching the eye of Group of Seven's Lawren Harris later in life and achieving some recognition alongside more famous men. 

Carr was a Christian and while she studied Harris' Theosophy, as well as Buddhism, she  felt the need for Jesus in her own quiet way. She did find the Anglican church stuffy and for most of her adult life she was not a regular churchgoer, claiming that  "the woods are my cathedral."



Odds and Ends -- Emily Carr 1939

I thought of one of Carr's starker images when I read about  British Columbia's decision to protect 54 of the province’s largest and oldest trees The trees are on the University of B.C.’s Big Tree Registry that has identified 347 of the largest of each species in the province. All these trees were at risk of being harvested. While this is a good step it also seems rather pathetic as ecosystems are destroyed by clear-cutting and some of the oldest creatures on the planet are mowed down. Carr was far ahead of her time in painting these clear-cuts which are usually far from the public eye.

I read this week that some of the oldest, largest tree in Ontario have been discovered in Algonquin Park, where I will lead a Cathedral of the Trees worship service next weekend. One hemlock is at least four hundred years old and all the trees are in an area slated for cutting. Let's pray that a plan can be developed to save them.