Last night our dinner conversation turned towards, “What’s the point of it all?” As in, why are we here? What is it all about? Some of us were quiet. Some of us are looking for a theory to explain it all. And some of us are OK with not knowing, feeling like it is changing all of the time so what would the use be in trying to nail it down. When things this big show up for me, I take a circuitous, or depending on how you look at it, a direct route, right through Nature. She is the one who always reminds me of the order of things in ways that are not complicated by the human mind.

Recently, a big limb came down off of a beautiful maple tree in our back yard. The branch was nearly big enough to be a tree unto itself. The breaking off left a scar long and wide down one side of the tree. With the limb being severed from the trunk, a big part of the tree is now gone. And yet, not one part of the remaining tree has recoiled or collapsed under the weight of this loss. No part of it has given up or become less alive. As a matter of fact, even the severed limb, days later, continues to feed the leaves as evidenced by their aliveness and brilliance. Despite the dramatic change in its appearance and size, the tree continues to do the only thing it knows how to do; to keep reaching for Life. To continue to experience its wholeness and integrity despite external changes to its shape.

Maybe that is the point. Keep going. Keep reaching. Keep being alive through all of it, no matter what happens. No matter what falls off. No matter how deep the cut.