Bishop Ross Nicholson writes on Bonsai & Ministry.

Many years ago my mother-in-law introduced me to bonsai. I do recall as a child reading about this Japanese horticultural art form and being intrigued. To the point where I found an orange seed and placed it in a plastic top from a soft drink bottle to see if I could make a miniature tree. Needless to say, as well as the art there is the science.

Bonsai are real trees and they need to be nurtured like any other plant. They need sunlight, regular watering and feeding. But it’s in the pruning of the branches and roots that the bonsai is formed. It is that pruning that makes these tiny facsimiles of their free growing cousins. The final aesthetic element is the pot in which they are grown. Bonsai actually means ‘in a pot’.

Coming to Tasmania meant I had to suspend my hobby because of quarantine restrictions, so my collection is being cared for by my mother-in-law. But that is also part of the beauty of bonsai, you don’t have to do it every week. When I return to Sydney and visit my in-laws I’ll often do the tasks that shape and style the tree.

Last year I decided, however, it was time to start again and so I’ve begun gathering new trees to be trained. On a visit to a sale at a local nursery I found three Banksia trees that I can experiment on. On the grounds of St John’s Launceston grow a number of oak trees that are surrounded by little oaks which will make a lovely group planting in a large flat pot. A Japanese maple offered me a nice specimen after I used the technique called air layering to trick a branch high up in the tree to strike roots into a bag of sphagnum moss. A bush saw and some patience has given me a nice future bonsai. The same method gave me a lilac and hopefully a blue spruce. A myrtle and Huon pine add a Tasmanian feel to my future collection.

If we have eyes to see, the natural world will offer us lessons of a spiritual nature. Bonsai reminds me that just like trees we disciples of Christ need to be nurtured with spiritual food and water. As I trim and shape the branches of my specimens Jesus’ words come vividly alive;

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.” John 15: 1-2

See also, Hobbies of the Clergy #1