Sunday, April 11, 2010

Just like an island

This picture, aside from being beautiful really makes me think about time, destiny, and our place in the universe.

We have what appears to be a coral island that has been eroded by years of the tide coming and going.  The trees on the island have been there long enough to take root and grow quite large.  The island has been there for their entire existence.

But are they aware of the erosion going on right beneath them?  Do they know the impending peril they face when the base finally gives way and the island tips over? Will they all die? Will they struggle on? Will they bend their trunks up at awkward angles to escape the ravaging saltwater?

Maybe the island will last a long time, long enough for the trees to complete their lives.  But what of the trees' offspring?  Will they be stuck on the island too? Maybe there will be a cataclysmic shift and the ocean will fade away, and the danger with it.  But that seems unlikely.

So what can they do?  What is the point of their lives?

They can give birth to seeds that can take to the wind or the water.  The seeds will outlive them and take some memory of their existence far away to new fertile grounds.  It might not happen in one generation.  Maybe eons of evolution are required to make such a change.  But it is possible. 


What does this have to do with our place in the universe? Well take a look at the island we all live on.

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