This may be kind of an askew thought, but while i was standing in Nature this morning with my arms stretched out to embrace life and offer my Gratitude for Life and all that it is, i noticed a single falling Leaf. My self believing that all things are of purpose and divinely connected to the Great “I AM” . . . i pondered this single Leaf’s purpose.
The Leaf is not that much different from who we are. We are Singular, yet we are connected. Most times the consciousness of this dynamic is connected to our perceptions of how we fit in to the “Whole”.
Back to the Leaf . . . . As i watched this Leaf fall i began to understand how it too is connected to the ongoing cycle of life. Many times in Life we are so used to discarding the “Aspects” and “Peoples” of life we perceive no longer serves a purpose. I look at this solitary falling Leaf, and my immediate empathetic knee-jerk response is one of sorrow. It would appear that this Leaf has served it’s purpose and is being sent on to an uncertain resting ground we so often identify as Death. Much like the Caterpillar who must lose it’s life to become a Butterfly, so is this Leaf. Perhaps it is not the visible aspects of this Leaf’s impending service unto life that stands out, but in further examinations it does become quite apparent that the cycle is just that . . . a Cycle.
Though this Leaf did serve it’s “Treely” duties in the gathering of Nutrients, Rain and Sun to feed the Tree, the giving in to this seemingly end does provide the room upon the Limbs that Mother may prepare this Tree for the coming Cycle of Seasons and thus New Growth! This solitary Leaf along with so many countless others will fall to the Earth Mother and begin it’s journey of “Decomposing” that it’s residual Body of Nutrients provide a bed for the coming Spring’s New Growth, such as Flowers, Plants, Fruits and Vegetables. This possibly unnoticed aspect of duty is significant in that this same solitary Leaf is still performing a duty unto life.
I remember the last few months of my Mother’s Life when she was about 98% Paralyzed and completely Bed Ridden. She having always been a Strong, Loving Spiritual and Independent Woman so accustomed to doing for others found the experience to be somewhat demeaning and full of anguish. I used to read to her and have many discussions with her about her plight and circumstances. In my limited visions of attempting to encourage her and lift her spirits, i would always tell her that she has yet to fulfill her duties. Though she was incapacitated in the body, she still had the ability to speak and thus teach. I would tell her that there is still so much more she has to give . . . besides, if God wanted her He knew exactly where to find her! i am so blessed by those cherished moments of her apparent suffering, for i saw a transformation not only in my self and her, but all those around her and all those who were blessed to encounter her. We in life are always in a potentially transformative state of being.
Back to the Leaf . . . as with my Mother, these moments when we take time to notice, we can see the connectedness of all things. With my mother it is the memories and her continual Spiritual presence that is her gift unto my life and that of our entire Family and Community. She still is a dominant influence in Our Spirituality as well as my writing. I am forever Grateful. As with the Leaf it’s purpose, like that of my Mother, it lies perhaps in the “Unseen”, but with all due certainty, it does manifest into the “Seen” . . . and that my friends is “The Purpose of the Falling Leaf”
Blessed be
bill
(c) 30 September 2010 : William S. Peters, Sr.
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