Reverence for Life - Day 6

We live in a close symbiotic relationship with the plant kingdom. What they breathe out is the most essential ingredient of what we breathe in; and vic-versa. The millions of species cooperate closely with us to provide us with nourishment. In fact, the plant world provides the foundation of the food-chain of all land-based mobile living creatures.

Plants convert solar energy to food by photosynthesis and are thus the primary food source for all other land-based life forms. (Plankton play a similar role for life in the sea). The extraordinary versatility and creativity of plants has been an inspiration to human art and architecture for millennia. The plant world is one of the richest sources of beauty on this earth.

Therefore, Reverence for Life today means:

- Standing in awe of the generosity, beauty, ingenuity, and intelligence of the plant kingdom.

- Working in harmony with the plants that we cultivate to provide nourishment, by engaging with them creatively through Permaculture, making full use of nature’s circular economy, where nothing goes to waste;

- Befriending an individual plant, such as a tree; hugging its trunk, feeling its energy, sitting in the shade of its branches, admiring its roots, and allowing ourselves to sense its communication with us.

- Tending the plants in our gardens, or on our balconies, or on our windowsills; sensing their needs for water, warmth, shade, fresh air, or support; they will show their gratitude.

And let us be ever grateful for all they do for us, from filling the air with oxygen, feeding us with their fruits and even with members of their families, surrounding us with beauty, helping to make rain, and offering their dead matter to make compost to nourish future generations. And let us ensure that we leave enough wild spaces for plants and animals to live together undisturbed by human cultivation.