The triumph of life is that the fruit is already in the seed. (Shelly)

Note: I borrowed this title from the book: The Triumph of Seeds by Thor Hanson.*  If you are a lover of nature, Hanson is part storyteller and part botanist.  Life begets life. The regenerative power of seeds is a metaphor for our lives. And seeded within us is the inherent capacity to be transformed.  Thus, with nature as our metaphor, consider the jack pine tree.

The Jack Pine: What Lies Within**

My fifteen years in Lake Arrowhead was like living in an enchanted forest, the stuff of fairy tales and dreams that might come true. Perched high in the San Bernardino Mountains of Southern California, our mile high life was cradled in natural beauty. Serene mountain lakes lapped gently on quiet shores, tickling the feet of majestic redwoods that kept their watch.  Sugar pines grew so tall their upward sway swept the heavens. And far from city noise and lights, trillions upon trillions of glittering stars salted the dark night sky.  From our top deck, we were often dazzled by falling stars that hissed and sizzled their way toward earth.  Yes, we could hear them.

Amid all this splendor was one curious scraggly evergreen at the top of our driveway.  This mangy tree looked more weed than its noble tree cousins. Even the blue jays that owned the airways slowed their flights to hover overhead and squawk mercilessly. 

With all my might, I tried to yank it from its tight hold in the rocks from which it sprang, but it seemed to persist in its right to exist.  Good thing.  I eventually learned the value of our pitiful-looking jack pine.

Look deep into nature and you will understand everything better.   
-----Albert Einstein 

A Capacity for Regrowth 

Jack pine trees develop very thick, hard cones that are literally glued shut with a strong resin. These serotinous cones can hang on a pine tree for years and when a fire sweeps through the forest and the resin melts, the heat-dependent cones then open up, releasing seeds that are then distributed by wind for plant rejuvenation. 

The "triumph" of the jack pines is that they carry the capacity for regrowth after devastation. 

Every worthwhile accomplishment, big or little, 
has its stages of drudgery and triumph:
 a beginning, a struggle to exist, 
and a victory.
                          -----Mahatma Gandhi

Human Triumph

We celebrate life.  It is a privilege to be part of its cycles, according to the Creator's grand design. Sun-up, sun-down, and seasons shift. Endings become new beginnings and with that comes loss. We mourn the loss of our loved ones while searching for meaning.  Those of us left behind ponder age-old questions.

What lives on after us?  Do we leave anything of value behind? And what do we pass to the next generation? Am I a single thread pulled or part of the greater fabric of life? 

Oh, The Younger Generation!

In the 4th century BC, Socrates wrote this about the woes of the younger generation:  Children today are selfish, lazy, disrespectful, do not get enough exercise and they think they know everything.  (Familiar?)  My parents often remarked how my generation was soft, having been spared the Great Depression and WWII.  And I see my own grandchildren glued to their devices, getting many things I never had, delivered to their doorstep. Of course, there is Alexa ready for their command. What would Socrates think of them? 

The Fruit in the Seedlings

Each Christmas, I self-publish Letters to My Grandchildren, an annual memoir retelling significant events of the year to help steer and define their lives.  I also include a bit of family history.  There are family stories longing to be told lest they be forever buried, like the stories of those who came ashore as poor but hopeful immigrants, with nothing in their pockets but strong hands and a fierce determination to work the land. They came with devotion to God and family and a steadfast faith that overcame enormous obstacles. I want their descendants to know from whence they came.  The whole fruit of their seed is the triumph that dwells within. 

 (And I smile because my farmer grandfather who came here over 100 years ago was Ernesto Trionfo---earnestly triumphant).

We are all ghosts. We carry the seeds of those who came before us.  (Liam Callanan)

What lies in these neat little packages waiting for the spark of life?   
----Thor Hanson

Human Capacity

Like the serotinous pinecones, what is seeded inside of us might be sealed tight waiting for the spark of life that melts away the resin. It is never too late. Resilience is how high the ball of our hearts can bounce back after devastation. We recover. Reseed, powered by an enormous capacity to be transformed. That is what we hand down to those who come after us. 

Against all odds, we are seeded with an inherent capacity To Stretch, To Grow, To Learn, To Care, To Heal, To Love, To Triumph.

Seeded as Caregivers I think of our friends and neighbors who are caregivers, those who are living with and caring for a declining spouse. Somehow, they pull up the quiet strength to wake up each the morning and bridge the gap between hope and despair amid mounting grief. They mourn the loss of a loved one who is still there, but not there.  The constant everyday physical needs become round the clock acts of love they willingly give.  The song of their heart is fading but they sing anyway, because love comes packed with deep quiet capacity of unsung courageous love.

Capacity: I think of the first responders during our COVID pandemic. I think of the doctors and nurses who lost patients almost hourly. With little time to grieve, and afraid they might infect their own families, they returned, again and again, to care for another and another and another. They exhaled the stench of loss, then inhaled resolve; true heroes among us.

Seeded to Go Beyond: I think of our high school grandson who did an extraordinary thing to support his coach in his effort to achieve his personal goal of completing a 100-mile race inside of 24 hours. Yikes! Quite a goal. So, Jake and two others young lads became pacers by running the last 30 miles with him. In the final stretch, when each movement screamed in pain, they harnessed an energy they didn't know they had. With the support they rendered, the coach crushed his goal by finishing under 20 hours.  (see footnote)***

Seeded to Break Through the Barriers:  Our ten-year-old grandson did not come into this world with a lot of self-confidence.  Often fearful of the unfamiliar, he would shy away from anything new and hide in the safety of his silence. For Lucas, it is the love of baseball that propelled him to dig deep to overcome perceived obstacles, to push beyond the resin of his limits, to enter that fearful space of the unknown and find his inner resolve, his inner reservoir of strength.  All because his mother saw the fruit within him and gave him opportunities to learn and grow. 

                                 To see things in the seed, that is genius. (Laozi)

Harvest the meaning of life and pass it down to the next generation through stories. 
-----Joan Borysenko

Celebrating the story-tellers:  Parents and grandparents, poets, biographers, clergy . . .
Celebrating the courage of our protectors: the police, soldiers, guardians. . .
Celebrating those who inspire: Teachers, music makers, poets, artists, athletes . . . 
Celebrating unconditional love: Our pets . . .
Celebrating those of us who go the extra mile . . .  because we can . . . one more mile.

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For more about family legacy, follow the link to “I am From . . .”

I Am From . . .

GH

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*Hanson, Thor, The Triumph of Seeds, 2015. Basic Books, New York, New York.

**Excerpt from Hill, G., To Grow My Garden Within. 2023. Covenant Books, Murrells Inlet, SC.

***The brotherhood of wrestlers. Jake and his fellow runners are wrestlers on a high school team. The bond that developed between them is not unlike a “band of brothers”, a phrase used to describe the camaraderie among soldiers serving and fighting together. Although not related by blood, and not actually “fighting”, they are bound together for the betterment of each other. Even after long grueling practices, Jake and his “brothers” run together conjoined by a spirit of oneness.

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