Now that I have that errant shingle out of my tree, I’m noticing tree branches a lot more. At some points in the year, trees look like verdant clouds of green leaves. So lush that I can’t even see the branches where those leaves are connected.

Right now, though, I can see every little fractal tendril of each branch. An intricately interconnected network that will carry nourishment out to each individual leaf. And that same intricate network carries nourishment back into the larger body of the tree as the leaves absorb and transform sunlight.

The leaves that will be on those branches are individual things. I’ll be able to see where one leaf ends and another leaf begins. And yet, each leaf will only be truly alive as long as it’s connected to the larger lifeform—the tree. A community of leaves, in a way.

Maybe this is something to meditate on as we consider how to honor the “interdependent web of all existence, of which we are a part.” If those branches are representative of that interdependent web, then maybe we are like the leaves that will soon be emerging from those branches. As individual leaves, we do things that nourish the entire tree, and we also draw nourishment from the larger tree.

And we aren’t the only ones responsible for nourishing the tree. Other leaves are there too, participating in that same interdependent web. Even when we can’t see them because we’re way out on some far-flung twig and some other leaf is a world away on the other side of the tree. We depend on the leaves around us, and they depend on us.

It takes a lot of healthily connected leaves to make a healthy tree. All those intricate networks of branches ensure that each leaf is able to nourish and be nourished. Right now, we have the delightful opportunity to see all those branches spreading out, unhidden. And yet, we don’t see how the root systems of different trees interconnect and strengthen one another underground. Some of the connection remains hidden, even though we know it’s there.

Of course, no metaphor is perfect. But it’s worth noting that the communities we nourish (and are nourished by) are interconnected with other communities in ways we can’t always see. In ways we may never completely comprehend. Entire forests of trees can operate like a single organism.

What is your tree? Or are you a leaf on multiple trees? (We can do that, you know!) Are you feeling close to the core, connected to a strong branch near the trunk? Or are you feeling like you’re precariously clinging to a fragile branch on the fringes? It’s alright for us to reach out to some of those other leaves when we need a reminder that we’re a meaningful part of things. When we need a reminder that we’re worthy and acceptable and whole.

I’m not sure if leaves actually do that for one another, but I wouldn’t be surprised. It’s one of the most natural things about interdependence.

Rev. Randy Partain