Certainly one way to get in touch with the mysterious, cosmic, and spiritual sense of life is to ponder that we and all lifeforms on earth have a long and direct connection to the microscopic primitives that emerged from a primordial ooze millions and possibly billions of years ago.
Recently I watched a fascinating program on PBS's "NOVA" series about flowering plants --- certainly an apt topic for late April! It pointed out that we humans would not have evolved if we had not had the various fruits and grainseeds to eat, which in turn are products of the flowering plants. So in a sense, we are all "flower children". (Although we did not evolve from the flowering plants in any direct genetic lineage --- flowering plants developed much too late for that.)
And a friend's email about the recent presidential election in France caused me to think about my personal connections to that country, and I found myself writing these remarks:
Although I consider myself 100% German from a genetic standpoint, I note that several generations ago my ancestors on my mom's side were persecuted in their native section of Germany for their Protestantism, and migrated as religious refugees to the Alsace-Lorraine area in France, before later making the big trip across the pond to America.
And so it turns out, I am eighth-generation American on my dad's side of the family, and fifth-generation American on my mom's side. So, in a sense, Germany is my "old fatherland" and France is my "old motherland".
And of course, my really "old, old, old, old father/motherland" is Africa --- and nowadays I try not to forget that.
So go find a beautiful flower, spend a moment pondering it, and thank its ancestors for all their gifts to our ancestors.
Flowers are more than just beautiful --- they are literally a Gift of Life from the cosmos.
