#familytree
THE HUMAN FAMILY TREE
\ Trees form an alliance…you might say they’re in cahoots…
with other trees and organisms that intertwine within their roots.
Pine, fir, palm, cherry, maple…it matters not what we call them
what differences on their outsides we may see…
The thread connecting them means they are all one family…
and that family is…tree.
It’s amazing how it works…if a tree needs something it is lacking
from another tree it gets donated….
Trees instinctively know they are stronger when they stand together….
when a forest is created.
A human family has a similar thread connecting every member of the family
branching out in all time and directions….that’s why it’s called our family tree.
Our family also forms alliances with other families…you might say we’re in cahoots
as other families across the world share and intertwine within our roots.
It matters not what we call ourselves…what differences on our outsides we may see….
the thread connecting each of us means we are all one….
one human family.
But unlike the family of tree…our human family has made a grave mistake…
allowing our fear and hatred and prejudice…to cause our thread to fray…at times to brake.
Unlike the family of tree we have forgotten we’re all related…
all a human sister and human brother….
the broken thread means we have stopped caring for…and helping one another.
And if we are unable…if we cannot find a way…to fix or repair this thread….
I have no doubt…eventually…our entire human forest will be dead….
But the Earth need not worry….long after we’ve caused our own extinction…
she will still be floating in the Universe…with dignity and distinction.
Because in those places once occupied by our now-extinct human family…
She will be soaring through the heavens still beautifully enveloped
by the family of tree.
ONE DYSFUNCTIONAL FAMILY
The function of our family tree is to keep us safe and cool and warm…
to offer us a comfortable place to rest and to give us shelter from the storm.
But when I gaze out on our world…it’s bittersweet what I see…
I see one beautiful planet Earth inhabited by one dysfunctional family.
Our dysfunction is how we’ve forgotten we are all part of the same family tree
and how we’ve come to treat each other not as family…but as an enemy.
Our dysfunction is when we hate and fight and kill each other…how we fail to see
we are severing leaves and limbs and branches of our one and only family tree.
And every time we cut off another limb…some of our strength and stability fades.
and our whole tree becomes a little weaker, stops bearing fruit, and loses some of it’s shade.
And as our hate for one another…like a fungus on our tree forms….
we are unable to offer anyone shelter from the storm.
But hate is just a fungus..which needs more hate to endure….
and luckily, like with any fungus, there happens to be a cure.
If we spread love onto every leaf, every branch and every limb…
it love will find it’s way into our roots….
our tree will grow new limbs, new branches…new leaves
and begin to bear new fruit.
For a tree that’s filled with love is a comfortable place to rest…
will keep us cool and safe and warm….
and will smile as it offers every member of our family…shelter from the storm.