The Peak of Inspiration

There are nearly 400,000 plant species in this world.  Some are rare and exotic, others mundane and ordinary.  From scrub oak to the huge redwood.  Cucumbers and potatoes.  Herbs and fruits.  Some underwater and many above.  Some valued and others noxious.  Tares and wheat.

I find it fascinating that you can plant an onion right beside a watermelon.  Give it the same amount of water, the same fertilizer, the same sunshine, the same wind.  And come harvest, you will have two completely different results.  Different taste and a different use.  Bitter versus sweet.  One will make the juice run down your chin, the other one will squeeze the juice from your eyes. 

I don’t know if life is fair or not.  There have been a lot of discussions and theories regarding that particular question, and I’m not here to debate or try to prove one way or the other.  I don’t know if God would like it if everyone had an equal chance at success.  Maybe that would somehow spoil the grand plan.  If it weren’t for the fall and the curse that followed, would there still be rich and poor?   

But I do have to conclude that we are all given the same elements to work with.  While we may live in varying climates, we all are under the same sun.  While some are placed in rocky ground and others in the rich, loamy soil of the delta, the nutrients are still drawn from below.  Some are in the lee of the mountain, out of the wind, and others are near the top, constantly being assailed upon.  But wind or no wind, we must have what that air provides.  Whether in the rainforest or the desert, we need water.  Without it we die. 

And so, while many of the finer details vary from person to person, and they will, I think God gives us the elements we need to survive.  And not only to survive, but to flourish and give a gift to the world.  Contribute in some small way to the overall health of humankind.  To be something that takes these things, these basic elements of life, and transforms them into something that helps, that feeds, that heals. 

There is nothing complex about these elements.  Pure air is invisible.  Pure water is tasteless.  Sunshine is anything but fancy.  This proves that we don’t need special treatment to be useful.  Our heart has a unique DNA.  A signature of its own.  A task that it alone knows how to do.  And we are given the energy to fulfill that mission.  I do believe that. 

I could use a little help with this next part.  What are those elements?  What are the things that we all have access to, even if only in a limited or seasonal way?  The things that contribute to life.  The things that, while they may not be given equally, help us to find our place in The Plan.

I’ll share my opinion, and I heartily invite you to share yours with me.   I don’t know if one is more important than the next, but here they are.  The Will to Live, the Ability to Reason, and the Capacity to Love.   These are the things we are born with.  That come to us by default.  Some people keep and cultivate them all.  Some are careless, squander and eventually lose them. 

There have been times that I have not wanted to believe some of the things I have just written.  I’ve wanted to blame my circumstances on the unfairness of life.  That some have an unfair advantage.  And I’m not suggesting that I don’t have any questions, because I do.  Some things just don’t make sense to me. 

But it seems to me that we all have an opportunity to be useful.  That we all have access to the elements that will give us the strength we need to fill our place.

There will be differences.  Big ones.  The oak tree probably doesn’t relate well with the cabbage plant.  The seaweed may not understand the bristlecone pine.  That doesn’t diminish the usefulness of either.  We need them.  They have a purpose.  All together, they make a beautiful earth.  So, take what you are given.  I’ll do the same.  If we dedicate our hearts and our lives, we’ll make this world a beautiful place.