Monday, September 8, 2014

Bob Fickes ~ The Magical Tree of Life


Human life is like a great tree with its roots deep in the earth and its leaves pointing towards the sun. This is what makes us human. The more we reach to the sky, the more our roots have to be deep in the earth. If not, the tree will fall over when the wind gets strong.
The life of the tree starts in the dirt. Once the seed is planted in the dirt, how does it know which way is up? It is surrounded by dirt. There is dirt everywhere. How does it know which way to grow? The answer is very profound: the seed knows by instinct which way is up. It doesn’t have to figure it out. It has no mind. But nature provides the seed with an instinct to grow. All life has this instinct.
The seed wakes up and breaks open. It has to grow and transform many times until it reaches maturity and finds its strength as a full-grown tree. The seed must struggle and find its power as it pushes the dirt aside and finally breaks through the ground. That first appearance doesn’t look like anything special. The tiny sprout popping out of the ground could be anything. It could be a blade of grass or a giant oak. The tree only has one instinct to keep growing and expanding into the universe. It never thinks about where it is going or what it is going to do.

Our life as a human being is like this tree. We don’t know what kind of life is ahead of us, but if we keep going and growing, we discover the magnificence of being human. Put your whole heart into each moment. Your only thought is to grow and expand your life in all directions. Most of us have it all wrong. We think we must have one thing. We think we must do one thing. But the tree of life teaches us to experience everything and keep growing. Never stop.
The magical tree of life is extremely wise. It knows that each growth upwards towards the sky must have an equal growth deep into the earth. Our roots in the crude world of earth give us the nutrients we need to find our destiny in the sun. Every challenge we face gives us the strength and knowledge we need to express our self in a more sophisticated way. The tree never gives up. Even if the tree is broken, it still rises up again and keeps growing. Nothing can stop it.
For every thing we need there is a season. There is a season for making branches and leaves. This makes the foundation we need to eventually bear fruit. This is a time of hard work. But before the fruit can appear, the tree creates beautiful flowers. In the life of the tree, flowers appear and disappear once a year. The tree is not disappointed that its creation of a beautiful flower appears only for a short time. The flower must die before it can transform into a fruit. Our life is like that. We have our moment of glory when everything is in season. All of our hard works pays off. Every thing seems to work and our life is fun. Then one day it disappears and we wonder what we did wrong. All that effort and then the beautiful flowers we created are lost.
The flower is beautiful but cannot multiply our life and produce more. Even our best moments are just for us to know we can do it. Our ego is satisfied that we did it. But there is nothing that comes back to us for our future. Our pride is short sighted.
Create for the joy of creation. Learn from your creation that you can do it. Now the real challenge begins: how to make my life fruitful? What I do must help others to enjoy as well as help me to have a future that keeps going by its self automatically. This is the time when we must transform our flowers into something that bears fruit. The fruit carries the seeds for a future that will never end. The fruit is attractive to many others. People come from everywhere in order to enjoy.
What are you doing to help this universe to enjoy and be better? The magical tree of life is a great teacher. It shows us we are not here for our self only. We are here to provide many things for other living beings. The strength of our life provides shelter to others. The fruits of our life provide nourishment and joy for others. The seeds of our fruits multiply our life into an everlasting future.
If we are lucky, we can create an enlightened life that will bless everyone and everything around us. When we create our enlightenment, everyone for all generations in the future will admire our achievement and desire to be like that. A strong life lasts forever. It doesn’t fall down when the strong winds come. It has deep roots in the experiences of life and never gives up. The wise and magical tree of life is an inspiration for all living beings. This is a life to be admired for all generations in the future. This is a life worth living.

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