Trees are having a bit of a moment – or perhaps it is more accurate to say that many of us are finally beginning to acknowledge what has been true all along. As the urgency of the climate crisis increases, we are realizing the significance of trees to the ecosystem. Trees help absorb rainwater from increasingly torrential downpours. They offer shade on scorching summer days. They remove carbon dioxide from the air and provide habitat for animals. Not surprisingly, the city of Montreal is planting trees at a rapid clip, including on the grounds of the hospital where I garden (mulching the new saplings with, perversely, imported wood chips that come in plastic bags). We are also becoming aware in this city of the connection between trees and justice. Flying back to Montreal recently, I flew over two adjacent boroughs of the city, one carpeted by a canopy of beautiful green, the other decidedly not. It was a sea of green next to a warren of hard, dark asphalt and concrete. No need to guess which of these boroughs is full of million-dollar homes, good schools, and a Tesla dealership, and which is the one where home ownership rates are low and schools perform less well.

The Bible describes a tree with leaves for the healing of the nations. We could sure use such leaves now. Or do we have them already?