Tree

Meditate on the contrast between its lower and upper parts

May 5th 2024
Meditate on the image of a tree. A tree consists of roots, a trunk and branches, and the branches bear leaves, flowers and fruit. The roots of a tree live deep underground in total darkness, where they work to absorb nutrients from the soil and to produce the raw sap, which then rises through the trunk. Far from air and light, roots carry out an arduous, thankless task fraught with obstacles, difficulties and constraints.
The trunk, on the other hand, rises heavenwards, bearing currents of intense life: at the core are the upward channels carrying the raw sap, while the elaborated sap flows down through channels lying along the outer edge of the trunk. As the trunk grows taller and stronger, it acquires new branches that sway joyfully in the wind and light, and display the life and beauty of their leaves, flowers and fruit for all to see. What a contrast between the upper and lower parts of a tree!*
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