Your are not alone or lost

The vast diversity of the planet does not mean that you are lost in the crowd. Your uniqueness in the universe does not mean that you can go it alone. In fact, it is at the apex of interdependence that we can seriously celebrate our diversity and genuinely appreciate our uniqueness.

We are part of a universe that is interrelated, interconnected, and interdependent.

Once I told a friend that the tree was in him and he gave me a funny, questioning look. “What do you mean?” he asked.

Whether you agree with it or not, whether you are aware of it or not, each time you take a breath, you are in communion with the trees and plants around you, I said.

The plants receive carbon dioxide from us and give us oxygen. If the trees don’t exist, we won’t. We are interconnected and interdependent on them. Once you become aware of this, you will start looking at plants and trees with new eyes of appreciation and gratitude.

If the plants don’t do photosynthesis and give us oxygen, we are toast. But without the light from the sun, the plants will be helpless to produce oxygen. Without the heat from the sun there won’t be much evaporation of the oceans. Without evaporation and formation of clouds, there won’t be rain. Without rain, the plants won’t grow and flourish. See how the whole thing is inter-related.

Let us take the case of the butterfly. The beautiful butterfly that we see freely flying around was once a caterpillar. It all started when the butterfly laid a small egg on the leaf of a plant. God decided that the butterfly’s egg should have a little sticky substance to it so that when it lays the egg on a leaf which tosses in the wind, the egg won’t fall off and be destroyed. See how carefully God takes care of the most minute details of the life of a small butterfly. Jesus uses the analogy of “every hair on your head as being counted” to talk about this meticulous concern of the Creator on behalf of His/Her creation.

The eggs of birds don’t have any sticky substance on them because birds lay their eggs in secure nests. Butterflies don’t have that luxury and so God makes special provisions for them.

The egg of the butterfly hatches and grows on the leaf by eating the leaf. So, it is dependent on the leaf for its survival. Once it is viable, it moves to the branch of the tree and hangs there for about four weeks until the process of metamorphosis is complete, and the butterfly is born. Then it needs the nectar from the flowers which grow on plants, and so they turn around and return to the plants to lay an egg on the leaf of that plant. This is just one instance of interdependence being played out in nature.

(from Cosmic Kindergarten: Earthly Lessons for a Heavenly Life)