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The Tree of Life Prayer Path is a peaceful place for walking, sitting, meditating, and praying. The Path, located behind the church and carefully spread out through our four acres of woods, has been designed in the ancient form of the Tree of Life. Along the paths there are 12 numbered prayer alcoves each with a sitting stone and a unique cross symbol.
The Tree of Life, described in several passages in the Bible, is quite extraordinary, bearing fruits each month, and grown by God for our refreshment and healing.
Take your time, and pause before entering. Once you start on the path, allow the silence and beauty of God's creation to help you retreat from the busyness of the world. Be quiet and begin to hear God's voice. Walk slowly. Use your senses; look, listen, smell, and touch. Stay as long as you like in Prayer Alcoves to sit, reflect, pray, or just be still. You also may choose to use one of the guided meditations you will find in the box at the entrance arbor.
We pray that your visit here, to the branches and fruits of this Tree of Life, will help with your healing. Please come back as often as you like, to be restored and refreshed.
Prayer Path Walking Guide
Preliminary Flora & Fauna List - May 2010
Trees
- White pine Pinus strobes
- White birch Betula papyrifera
- E. cottonwood Populus deltoides
- White oak Quercus alba
- Scarlet oak Q. coccinea
- Scrub oak Q. ilicifolia
- Red oak Q. rubra
- White ash Fraxinus americana
- American basswood Tilia americana
- Sugar maple Acer saccharum
- Red maple Acer rubrum
- Shad, serviceberry Amalanchier sp.
- Choke cherry Prunus virginiana
- Wild black cherry P. serotina
- Alternate-leaved dogwood Cornus alternifolia
Shrubs
- Bramble Rubus sp.
- American hazel Corylus americana
- Burning bush (I) Euonymus alata
- Oriental honeysuckle (I) Lonicera sp
- Common buckthorn (I) Rhamnus cathartica
- Multiflora rose (I) Rosa multiflora
- Dogwood Cornus sp.
(I) = Invasive species
Subshrubs
Vines
- Grape Vitus sp.
- Oriental bittersweet (I) Celastrus orbiculatus
- Poison Ivy Rhus radicans
- Virginia creeper, Woodbine Parthenocissus quinquifolia
Annuals
- Jewelweed, Touch-me-not Impatiens sp.
- Garlic-mustard (I) Alliaria officinalis
Perennial Herbs
- Sedge Carex sp.
- Grass
- Coltsfoot Tussilago farfara
- Dandelion Taraxacum officinale
- Shining bedstraw Galium concinnum
- Bugle Ajuga reptans
- Solomon’s plume Smilacina racemosa
- Canada mayflower Maianthemum canadense
- Shinleaf Pyrola sp.
- Wild strawberry Fragaria virginiana
Ferns
- Sensitive fern Onoclea sensibilis
- Intermediate wood fern Dryopteris intermedia
- Mammals
- Gray squirrel
- Eastern chipmunk
- White-footed mouse
Birds
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- Common crow
- Northern cardinal
- Tufted titmouse
- Black-capped chickadee
- Downy woodpecker
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