We Are All Connected

The oak tree has been growing for several years, but is still quite young. It appears strong, but many of the branches have lost their sense of purpose and unity. They have begun acting autonomously. Instead of working together to grow, they get irritated with one another.

The branches at the top feel like they have worked, and are working harder, to reach the light than the ones below them. They quite literally look down on them for being lazy and not putting in enough effort. The ones toward the bottom feel oppressed because the light does not warm them as much. If only the ones further up would take time to help them grow and reach new heights. The branches in the middle are comfortable where they are because they feel justified in the idea that they work harder than the lower branches. However, they have accepted that they can never get as much light as the ones above and have settled into a complacent existence. In the early years they were highly motivated, but now survival on whatever light comes their way is good enough.

Some branches are mad because they feel it is too crowded. Others pass judgment in the Fall season because the color of their leaves are different. Some are mad at the trunk for growing in a place where the wind can blow so hard and cause so much difficulty. A few want to work together, while others prefer to be left alone to do their own thing.

None of the branches seem to be able to agree about anything. All seem to have lost awareness to the reality that they are connected to the same trunk and grew from the same acorn. This no longer matters because what the individual branch wants is dominating their motivations.

The branches have had enough. When the wind blows, they do everything they can to destroy the branch next to them. The twigs slap against each other until some start to break. On a particularly windy day, the war amongst the branches wages for hours on end. The chaos causes one large branch to snap in half. As it falls to the ground it slams against other branches. Some are beat up more than others. A few others break because of the impact of the fallen branch.

The chaos of this battle causes a momentary pause as all of the remaining branches still attached to the trunk look down at the ones on the ground. They watch in sorrow as the branches begin to die off. Disconnected from their source of life, their color fades and decay sets in.

As the memory of the branch deaths fade, divisiveness rises among the tree again. Some of the branches are happy the fallen got what they deserved. Others begin to believe there must be a better way. If only they had considered the importance of unity instead of letting their personal views dictate their aggression toward their neighboring branches. Destruction did not have to be the conclusion.

A small number of branches began to consider how selfless love and encouragement might allow the entire tree to thrive. The important detail to not be missed is that this beautiful idea was not specific to any particular section of the tree. Individual branches in the lower, middle, and upper sections all had similar aspirations. When the sun began to rise, the loving branches helped the other ones reach out toward the east. As the sun set, they encouraged them to reach to the west. When it rained, the unity driven branches shared their water with the ones next to them. When a storm came, they linked twigs and embraced each other for stability.

Soon the idea of being separate seemed more and more ridiculous and self-serving. Love spread throughout the tree. The Oak became more and more unified in it's purpose for a long, fulfilled life. As they overcame their differences, diversity became their strength. All the branches grew and expanded when they realized they all played a part and were all connected, making the crown of the tree full and robust.

If the branches could not have come together, it would have died off quite young, but fortunately the Oak tree is well on it's way to living a strong 300+ years. Through solidarity, their positive impact on the world around them will be astounding.