Trey Smith
Autumn is just around the corner. I know this without looking at a calendar. All I have to do is to look in my garden.
The salmonberry bush, which was once full of berries and green leaves, is now devoid of berries and the leaves are turning brown. The flowers of the cinquefoil are becoming less numerous and these plants are beginning to lose their suppleness. The leaves of the sword ferns are dying off and new fronds are replacing them. It seems that in many areas of the garden several of the plants are shifting from the vibrant colors of summer to the more understated colors of fall.
In another month or so, the process will be complete, except for those plants that stay green all year round.
As I watch some of the annuals die, I wonder: Will they go to heaven? For most people, that's a stupid question. Only humans -- and particular humans at that -- have their ticket punched for paradise. Plants, animals and other non-human life forms simply die. End of story.
As I sit in my garden, I wonder why people seem to think human death would be different than any other being. Since all life forms on this planet are made up of the same basic elements, it would make far more sense to think that death for a flower or a person would encompass much the same thing.
If you believe that people can go to heaven, why not a cinquefoil or your pet hamster? What is it that is so special about humans that we would not follow the basic blueprint of life slipping into death?
If you believe in a god and this god made all life -- every living thing -- then an element of this god is housed individually in all of creation.
If you believe that humans possess souls, then why shouldn't every other being possess one likewise?
It's because humans have sentience, intelligence and free will. Plants and other animals do not. At thats what I think the general consensus is.
ReplyDeleteautumn and winter are not death. they are as much a movement as spring and summer.
ReplyDeletethe human does not "wisely" see or dictate the season change but nature displays and defines this change and the human sees and moves with it.
nothing dies and nothing is born. one thing changes.
new life can not emerge if old life has not first given itself to be nutrients and soil. so all is life. death is life, just as importantly as birth appears to be.
Friday night. drunk. but feeling nature flow.
spring is coming here. ner ner ne ner ner :-) ....not that spring has anything over autumn. but it is more pleasant for bald apes. or is it? probably not, no, yes, maybe, hmph, blea. yup. all good.