To be as a seed in the ground of one's very life is to dissolve in that ground in order to become fruitful.

"In solitude, we are at the root, in the ground of life. We live, then, as a seed planted in the ground. As Christ said, the seed in the ground must die. To be as a seed in the ground of one's very life is to dissolve in that ground in order to become fruitful. But this fruitfulness is beyond any planning and any understanding of man. To be 'fruitful' in this sense, one must forget every idea of fruitfulness or productivity, and merely BE. One's fruitfulness is an an of faith in what one cannot possibly imagine for oneself . . ."

Thomas Merton

Photo: Snowbank and alpenglow on Nokhu Crags, Never Summer Range, March 7, 2015