March 7, 2017 (Tuesday)
I don’t profess to know anything about plants or trees, but after 85 years of observing them, I suddenly asked myself recently, why does not a grown tree leave a hole in the ground as it grows from the soil? The answer is that the tree does not come from the ground; it comes from the air. After doing a little research, I discovered that the roots of a tree supply the tree with water, and a very few nutrients, but most of the tree we see came from nutrients in the air through the processes of photosynthesis. The tree comes from the air–not the ground.
Most of the tree is carbon, which came from carbon dioxide. The tree gives us oxygen, and we breathe out carbon dioxide, which the tree needs in order to grow. The processes involved are extremely complicated and only the horticulturists know for sure what is going on.
Please tell me truthfully, did you know all that already? You probably did, but even though I knew about photosynthesis, I guess I thought that the mass of trunk, branches, leaves, flowers and fruits had come from the soil in some way. Not everyone takes as much for granted as I do sometimes. Mostly I just never gave it much thought.
Plant life is much more interesting than I realized. All of life, of every kind, is a gigantic miracle. That’s one reason Dr. Albert Schweitzer developed the attitude toward it known in philosophical and religious circles as, “Reverence for Life.”
I chomp down a good meal just about every day. One of my recent meals was chicken-fried steak, green beans, mashed potatoes and gravy, a slice of bread and a cup of coffee, followed by a bowl of cake and ice cream. From that meal, and everything I eat, I gain energy and my body is constantly replacing worn-out cells. We don’t need to understand the process, but it is miraculous, self-sustaining, and complicated.
The tree is fueled from the air; I am fueled from delicious food. I like my way better.
I’m glad to be alive. And thankful. Thank you, Lord, for a world of miracles going on all the time.