This picture was taken recently at Beachcomber Park, one of my favorite spots along the Palisades Bluff Walkway. It has everything. The views in every direction are inspiring. The grassy lawn and flowing walkways engender peace and security. You can walk to the edge of the bluff and peer down at the contrasting rocky shore below. You can access the beach below by a nice stairway where you drop into a whole new world of tide pools and incredible shore beauty. As I hear the sounds of the crashing waves, my acrophobia elicits mixed emotions of fear and peace. 

One of the features that always stirs up my emotions is the palm trees arranged in groups of threes. I’ve photographed them at many angles over the years. Landscape designers often recommend plantings in groups of odd numbers:  3,5,7, etc. Could my attraction to these groups of three trees be due to more than their ability to catch my eye?

Wonderful and important trees have been highlighted in the Bible. In Genesis 2:9, we note that “...out of the ground made the Lord God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.” Here, we see a fantastic garden design of beauty and goodness surrounding a central feature of two contrasting trees. Instructions on horticulture and free choice were given by the Creator to His created companions. 

If we look at the end of the story in Revelation 22:2, we find another tree of life: “In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.” 

There’s a grouping of three trees in the middle of the Bible story that is the heart of everything: the story of Calvary.  “And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other on the left. Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do”‭‭ (Luke‬ ‭23:33-34‬).

I really enjoy the Palisades Bluff Walkway. I look forward to walking down the street where the tree of life spans “a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb” (Revelation‬ ‭22:1).‬ Now that’s a walkway!

—Larry Smith