Picking a leaf off the ground and
contemplating it as an object in and of itself is very inspiring. Its
shape and color, the way it feels in your hand, its delicate veins and
the stem that once held it fast to the branch of a tree — all of these
qualities reveal a leaf to be a miniature work of natural art. As we
contemplate this small object more deeply and consider where it came
from and what purpose it has served, we find that the leaf is one small
but essential part of a system that harnesses the energy of the sun,
plumbs the depths of the Earth, and in the process brings into being the
oxygen many living things rely on.
A leaf transforms the elements of its environment — sunlight, carbon
dioxide, rain — into nourishment for its tree. This beautiful, nearly
weightless, ephemeral piece of nature is a vital conduit to the branch
that is a conduit to the trunk that is a conduit to the roots of the
tree. The roots, in turn, draw nourishment from the Earth to feed the
trunk, the branches, and the leaves. The living beings that inhale the
oxygen that comes from this process exhale the carbon dioxide that feeds
the leaves through which the tree is fed. It is difficult to know where
one cycle ends and another one begins.
One of the many gifts that nature offers us is a clear demonstration
of the interdependence between all living things. The person who exhales
the carbon dioxide, the clouds that produce the rain, the sun that
gives light, the leaf that transforms all these things into sustenance
for a tree — not one of these could survive without being part of this
cycle.
Each living being is dependent upon other living things for its
survival. When we look at the world, we see that this is not a place
where different beings survive independently of one another. Earth is
home to a web of living things that are connected to each other through a
spinning kaleidoscope of relationships. We need each other to survive
and thrive....<<<Read More>>>....
