no death, all life

last monday i was at my friend/mentor/pastor's home; in the back yard, there was a limb down out of a tree due to the recent ice storm that graced the area with crystalline beauty. on the limb was snow sprinkled here and there, like powder on a young girl's face as she first tries to put on makeup - you know, random. at any rate, my thoughts wandered to what i think of life and death while staring at this limb; limp, wet and heavy with water, dug a bit into the soft ground beneath it.

out of nothing come thoughts to me - i always call it God, mostly because when i quietly ask a question or wonder about something rhetorically, inwardly, there's this subtle way an answer comes to me. when i consider the answer, it's amazing how right it is for me at that moment. to me, that speaks of something greater than myself that gives me insight, if only i listen for it.

this time, the only thing i heard was "there is no death." right on. so i started pondering it, and it was groovy. this limb, in all its glory in the tree, was like a human being; full of life and power, helping to renew and motivate existence through its actions (such as turning carbon dioxide back into oxygen), and just as beautiful as any other thing in creation.

now, according to our limited framework of understanding, we say it's dead, lying on the ground, in the way, not attached directly to its life-giving force, leaves all gone from its branches - what good could it possibly do now?

thus is life, i say. this branch is not dead. it's gone from its source to continue its life with purpose. now it will lay below the tree, decaying slowly into the earth from which it sprung, and over time will harbor all sorts of insects and animals while beginning to revitalize the soil beneath the tree from which it fell so that its source can continue to thrive and do ITS purpose. and the cycle continues.

thus is life. humans come and go, but when our efforts are aimed at producing goodness and using our abilities to do what we can to help improve the earth at our fingertips and others' lives we hold in our hands, then we become that tree. it knows its purpose and it doesn't waver. when the struggles and happiness of life are meant to guide us and push us evermore into that mystery of [what's next?], and we go there willingly, knowing that once we are done here, our next purpose will be made evident, then we understand that there is no death. memories of my grandmother, conscious and unconcious thoughts that drive me to be good, are proof that she is not dead, only gone missing from my vision for a bit.

be the tree, and when you begin your sudden descent into the mystery of the soil, you will be at peace, knowing that you are heading towards more life.