We are designed to serve as a nourishing platform on which other beings can flourish.

One of the defining characteristics of a temperate rainforest is the fact that some organisms (like this moss-covered Bigtooth Maple) serve as a nourishing platform for other organisms (like this fern) to flourish. This quality can remind us that one of the defining characteristics of a spiritual life is the realization that selfhood is not identified merely with the individual. Rather, the self is part of a larger web. In other words, we are not meant to live merely for ourselves, our family, our race, our nation, or our species. Instead, we are designed to serve as a stable, nourishing platform on which an expanding network of other beings (including humans) can flourish. Ultimately, we are the means by which the Cosmos - along with God and Mother Earth - can know and appreciate its own amazing beauty.

Photo: Hoh Rainforest, Olympic National Park, WA; July 26, 2013