A Footprint in History

Psalm 52:8-9 “But I am like the green olive tree in the house of God. I trust in the steadfast love of God forever and ever. I will thank you forever, because of what you have done. In the presence of the faithful I will proclaim your name, for it is good.”

We planted ten tiny olive trees in our back yard. The olives they produce are Tuscan varietals with names like Frantoio, Leccino and Pendolino. When harvested and milled they create pungent oil that tastes like grass on the tip of the tongue and then explodes into eye-popping peppery fullness in the throat. Our first harvest was 14 pounds that yielded a precious quart of tasty golden bliss. I filled two tiny vials which are used at our church each Communion Sunday to anoint those who want a prayer blessing. As I watch my sisters and brothers in Christ being blessed with oil from olives that grew on our hillside I feel the current of history and sacred placement flowing from the earth into my body, through the oil and the blessing hands of the celebrant right into the beloved recipient. And I cry.

Our decision to plant a grove had to do with making a footprint in history. The trees connect us with an ancient human love affair with the olive tree. In Algarve, Portugal radio carbon dating has proven an olive tree there to be 2,000 years old and there are trees in Sardinia, Italy that the residents claim to be 4,000 years old. The earliest documented cultivation of olive trees is on the island of Crete in 3,500 B.C., that’s 5,500 years ago! Humans have loved and used olives for a very long time. Even today olives are one of the most extensively cultivated fruit crops in the world and 95% of olive production happens in the Mediterranean. However, California has a temperate climate similar to the Mediterranean and olive production flourishes in our state. In fact, we have a large olive ranch just five miles down the road from our house and it is a place of beauty and inspiration; McEvoy Ranch. 

Our human family has long loved olives and used the oil for lighting, healing, skin care, eating and cooking. Some of the long standing claims about the benefits of olive oil are that it can prevent wrinkles, dry skin and acne, strengthen nails, stop muscle aching, improve digestion, benefit metabolism and lower cholesterol. We know today that the media’s claims about the Mediterranean diet are largely based upon the health benefits of olive oil. No fooling, cooking with olive oil is a heart happy way to eat.

And yet, apart from their many uses and benefits I am most enthralled by our olive trees because they link us to the sacred role played by olive trees and oil in faith traditions over millennia. For the ancient Greeks the cultivation of olive trees and the production of oil were so sacred that only eunuchs and virgins could work in the groves. The groves, trees and oil of olives are a profound part of our Judeo-Christian heritage in Western Civilization, and I want to participate fully!

When the great flood ended Noah was given an olive branch by a dove (Genesis 8:11) and it is a powerful symbol of the peace and love of God. Jesus spent his final hours praying in the Garden of Gethsemane on the Mount of Olives, a fruitful evergreen olive grove. The groves, branches and oil of olives call to mind health, prayerfulness, peace and love. That’s why we named our hillside “Olive View Hill” because it sounds like “I Love You Hill.”

I care deeply that olive oil has a sacred tradition of anointing and blessing. I am joyous about bringing the oil of anointing and the green branches of the trees to our worship and behold, I am like the green olive tree in the house of God.

Copyright © 2013 Gayle Madison