Caring for Trees in Oakland

I was surprised yesterday by the increase in light on MacArthur Blvd where I work. The city came and cleaned up the trees up and down MacArthur from Coolige past Fruitvale. They finished today, making a huge difference. Makes me wonder about life - how we oftentimes don't care for the things that are right there: our cars, our homes, our bodies, each other..... What a difference a little TLC made for the trees and the streets they line. Our church building looks different. I can see the facade on the buildings seen through my office window. As the banks and insurance companies fall, I wonder what it would have been like if we'd spent more time pro-actively (instead of retro-actively) caring for the people in our nation as opposed to our bottom line profit? We want the quick fix, the easy profit, the whole package....yet it takes pruning the blocked places in our lives, thinning out the dead branches, constant care for life to thrive. Where have I heard that before?