Meditation on Red and Gold Sun, 10th November, 2013
The devil is in the details, they always say. After taking a few moments from a busy week to collect and study some fallen leaves, I would have to say, instead, that in the details I find divinity. Or maybe it's ourselves that we find in the detail, if in fact there's any difference at all between divinity and ourselves.
In the photo essay on the right, you can see the amazing diversity of forms but with a surprising consistency of red and gold hues. No human art could be more colorful, no shape more elegant, no texture more lustrous. Maple, redbud, sweet gum and pear—These are Plato's ideal forms made manifest on a lonely sidewalk in Webster Groves.
Being human, of course, we see everything through a human lens, so the leaves speak to me of our individuality but anchored within a living community. The emergence of each new leaf is nourished by the root and trunk, but then, once unfurled, the individuals return the favor. Each leaf takes its intercourse with the surrounding atmosphere, breathing in carbon dioxide, converting sunlight to sugar, and breathing out oxygen. Each is made to live in communion with others and is virtually meaningless when detached from community.
In one of life's great ironies, the leaves are perhaps the most beautiful as they descend back into the earth after a productive season. Like the sunset sky, the hues are made possible only by the fact of their dying.
May we be reminded of the fragility of our individual lives and of our duty to do our small part to nourish our communities during our numbered days in the sun. You are unique and beautiful. Yet there is no need to be lonely during our short time here together.
The devil is in the details, they always say. After taking a few moments from a busy week to collect and study some fallen leaves, I would have to say, instead, that in the details I find divinity. Or maybe it's ourselves that we find in the detail, if in fact there's any difference at all between divinity and ourselves.
In the photo essay on the right, you can see the amazing diversity of forms but with a surprising consistency of red and gold hues. No human art could be more colorful, no shape more elegant, no texture more lustrous. Maple, redbud, sweet gum and pear—These are Plato's ideal forms made manifest on a lonely sidewalk in Webster Groves.
Being human, of course, we see everything through a human lens, so the leaves speak to me of our individuality but anchored within a living community. The emergence of each new leaf is nourished by the root and trunk, but then, once unfurled, the individuals return the favor. Each leaf takes its intercourse with the surrounding atmosphere, breathing in carbon dioxide, converting sunlight to sugar, and breathing out oxygen. Each is made to live in communion with others and is virtually meaningless when detached from community.
In one of life's great ironies, the leaves are perhaps the most beautiful as they descend back into the earth after a productive season. Like the sunset sky, the hues are made possible only by the fact of their dying.
May we be reminded of the fragility of our individual lives and of our duty to do our small part to nourish our communities during our numbered days in the sun. You are unique and beautiful. Yet there is no need to be lonely during our short time here together.