A short folk Tale by Lawrence Nault
Before man appeared on the face of the earth; before animals roamed the surface, birds flew in the skies, and before the fish swam in the vast waters, there was still life. That life took the form of Mother Earth and the great Sun god.
Mother Earth watched the great Sun God high in the sky above her as she basked in the warmth of his glow. As one part of her cooled another warmed and would turn her cool side to face the great Sun God so it would warm as well. Over and over again Mother Earth would turn around trying to keep warm all over but she could never keep warm enough. Mother Earth grew tired of turning and one day called out to the Sun God. “Sun God, I adore you dearly. Please come closer so that I might feel more of your warmth.”
The Sun God did not answer. He remained high in the sky where he stood resolutely. Day after day Mother Earth called out to the Sun God and day after day the Sun God did not reply.
“He must not be able to hear me,” Mother Earth thought to herself. “I have to get closer to him so he can hear me.”
Mother Earth pondered over her problem for a great long time. Much longer than man, with his short life can comprehend. One day, the solution came to her. Mother Earth stirred her great forces within and from her surface sprouted life. There were grasses of many shapes and sizes and flowers in colors too numerous to count. To these plants, Mother Earth issued a command.
“I have created you for one reason. I need to talk to the Sun God but he is too far away to hear me. You must reach up to the skies trying to get as close as you can to the Sun God and deliver a message for me. Tell him that I love him dearly and then I want him to come closer to me.”
The plants grew fervently, and they reached toward the sky higher and higher each day, but one of the plants, in particular, reached the highest. The tree, which was perhaps the least beautiful of all the plants with its tough witty stem and plain flat leaves, strived to be the best, and it wanted to be the first to deliver Mother Earth’s message. Day after day the tree would reach higher and higher until all the other plants appeared tiny next to the mighty tree, but still, the tree reached higher and higher.
Mother Earth watched as all of the plants tried to deliver her messages, and she noticed how the mighty tree used all its energy to reach the Sun god. She watched as the tree would work so hard that it would become tired and shed its leaves regularly in exhaustion, and soon thereafter grow new leaves and continue in its quest to be the first to reach the Sun God and deliver Mother Earth’s message. The effort the mighty tree put forth touched Mother Earth deeply, and she spoke to the tree.
“Might tree, you have demonstrated your dedication and commitment to me by trying to reach the Sun God, and in watching you I have felt the pain as you shed your leaves and rested on to try and reach the Sun God again. You alone, of all the plants I have created, have reached the highest, and though I do not know if you will ever reach the Sun God, it no longer matters, for the commitment and dedication you have shown me creates a warmth of its own. To you, I give this gift of a ring that tells the story of your life and shows my commitment to you. I will give you a ring each and every year, and in that ring will be inscribed the story of your year for all to read. This is my commitment to you, mightiest of all plants.” To this day, Mother Earth gives the tree a ring each and every year, inscribed as she promised. When you cut down a tree, you can see those rings, and those enlightened individuals who have come to understand Mother Nature can read the inscription and gain the knowledge of years far beyond their own.
