I was thinking of a tree this morning.

Trees nourish their leaves, but only from that which they receive; the sun, the rain, the soil.

They hold onto their ‘children’ throughout storms and quiet times, the trees’ appearance more beautiful, more lively, more natural because of them.

And yet they release them. They allow them to fall, to float away, to rest elsewhere.

I wonder how the tree feels as the leaf detaches. Does it sense that it has lost something? Does it weep for this ‘loss’? Or does it naturally understand that life is a cycle, fraught with struggles and seemingly random separations?

The leaf rests under the tree from whence it was born, and slowly sinks into the soil, once again to merge with that which gave it life. Does the tree know this, anticipate this, rejoice in it? Or does it simply feel the grief of its temporary ‘separation’? Does the tree know deep within that when it births the leaf that they are forever one? That they can never truly be apart? That their dance will last throughout Eternity?

I do not know the answer, but I feel more connected with the tree this morning.

With Life.