The Tree That Wept: The Fresno Crape Myrtle Miracle

In the grand tradition of seeing Jesus in toast, the Virgin Mary in water stains, and the occasional holy tortilla, Fresno, California’s 2013 “weeping tree” incident is yet another proud entry in humanity’s long history of mistaking basic biology for divine intervention. For those lucky enough to be living under a rock at the time: a crape myrtle tree outside St. John’s Cathedral began oozing a clear liquid. The local response? Divine tears. Obviously.

Because when a tree starts leaking, it must be because heaven is sad.

Maria Ybarra, one of the first to declare the miracle, believed the tears increased with prayer. “When you say ‘glory be to God in Jesus’ name,’ the tree starts throwing out more water,” she claimed, adding, “This is something God is doing” (Los Angeles Times). Another woman, Rosemarie Navarro, said she prayed under the tree, asking for a miracle because she was seriously ill (Los Angeles Times). And in that moment, apparently, the Lord spoke through sap.

Word spread. Quickly. People flocked to the sidewalk, weeping and filming like it was the second coming—except with more phone cameras and less theology. According to BuzzFeed News, crowds gathered under the tree to receive droplets they believed were holy. Ybarra told reporters, “I hadn't feel so good before when the water was hitting me it changed me I feel peace. I said to her the Lord be with you. The Lord said peace be with you, peace I give you” (Wollan).

The Fresno Bee reported that people were calling the tree a “sign,” and many believed the liquid had healing power. Even in the July heat, dozens stood in prayer, while others simply came to stare and speculate (Grossi). Local news stations showed up. Pilgrims from nearby towns made the trip. All because of a sticky crape myrtle.

And then reality, inconvenient as ever, arrived.

City officials and botanists did what city officials and botanists do: they looked at the tree. Like, really looked. And it turns out, those so-called tears weren’t divine. They were honeydew—a sugary excretion secreted by aphids as they chew through the leaves of the tree (BuzzFeed News; Grossi). In short: it was bug poop. A crape myrtle tree covered in aphid feces.

Jon Reelhorn, a certified arborist and local nursery owner, explained, “The aphids will suck the sap, the sap goes through the aphid. And then it is a honeydew excrement from the aphid, and it gets so heavy in the summer that it will drip down” (Los Angeles Times). You can practically hear the collective theological sigh.

You’d think this would have ended things. You’d think wrong.

Instead of accepting that the tree was less miracle and more infestation, some faithful doubled down. Because if Jesus used spit and dirt to heal a blind man, surely God could send a message through insect waste. Logical consistency? Not required. For some, the absurdity only strengthened their belief. “Isn’t it just like God,” you can imagine someone saying, “to speak through the excrement of aphids?”

Meanwhile, the rest of us stood blinking in the sunlight, wondering why humans keep choosing mystery over obvious answers, even when the mystery is slowly oozing from a bug-ridden tree.

People want meaning. We all do. But maybe not every dripping object is a miracle. Maybe—just maybe—sometimes a tree is crying because it’s full of bugs.

Moral of the story? Faith may move mountains, but it also occasionally misidentifies aphid droppings as holy water.

Works Cited

Grossi, John. “Crying Tree in Fresno Attracts Faithful Believers, But City Says It's Just Bugs.” The Fresno Bee, 10 July 2013.

Wollan, Malia. “This Tree Is Crying, and the Faithful Are Flocking.” BuzzFeed News, 11 July 2013.

“Some Say Fresno Tree Is Weeping Tears of God.” Los Angeles Times, 13 Aug. 2013.