Friday, March 28, 2008

Respite (4)

After many months reading through all of Marc's naturalist notes,
I made an attempt synthesizing in my mind how all these different
categories of Life somehow fit together, connected with one another.

As I saw it, the main ingredient in all this was the Sun. Its warmth,
or energy, was utterly necessary for Life. Water was yet another
absolute requirement needed for the survival of Life. Climate
was an important variable, as well as Location, when it comes to
supporting Life. And within this context of necessities, there were
secondary considerations.

Within Location, the rock and soil type played a considerable role
determining the survival of Life. Climate was about weather, about
temperature and seasons. Also, there was the issue of Food. Upon
keen observation, one could spot the food webs in which different
animals--and even plants--participated. And far from being least,
there's the condition of Water--whether salty or fresh. Interestingly,
too, I noticed that certain animals as well as certain plants thrived
in their own special places. It would seem that they staked out their
niche, where they could thrive.

There nearly seemed a Relationship, or perhaps even some kind of
special Intelligence involved in the Natural World. I had never paid
attention before; but after studying and observing this world all
around me, I couldn't help but wonder! Talking with Marc, he agreed
with my premise--and he took it all a step further.

What interested him most was the idea of "seeding." Being a Master
Gardener, he was up close with seeds, with the unfolding of plants
and trees as they seemingly were designed to be. Marc felt that
there were ingredients within seeds that disposed the plant or tree
to become what it is meant to be. He felt that his theory applied to
animal life, too! And having said this, he dropped the idea that we
humans, too, are all part and parcel of this seeding process.

Need I say that I astounded by my cousin's thinking. Yet it seemed
logical, at least from his specialized observations--and even from
my own recent observations. This idea about humans perhaps being
seeded really grabbed my imagination. I wondered aloud "how" we
might even approach such a possibility? Marc responded, mentioning
that if he weren't so involved with his landscaping business he would
take time to study Plato's philosophy.

Evidently when he was a young student in Athens, he remembered
some of the teaching he received at the Academy--a Platonic school.
Marc remembered lectures about Plato's concept of the Forms, which
he felt could be likened to "seeds" that informed our human mind. He
continued, thinking aloud that these Forms may be a ruling part that
determines who we are to become, to be, how we actually unfold.
He believed that our natural disposition, our interests, reflect this
seeding, On the other hand, our position and condition in this world
can be likened to the soil in which we grow.

Marc wondered if I thought him crazy. Quite the reverse! I had rarely
felt so excited over an idea as this! I had discovered "what's next."
Right then and there I decided that I would travel back to Athens and
study seriously at the Academy, especially focusing on these ideas
that Marc had raised.

Not knowing it then, but I was embarking on a new life of Learning.

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