Wisdom comes in divinely designed packages

By Mary Regina Morrell
©Catholic Online 2004

"And this our life, exempt from public haunt, Finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, Sermons in stones, and good in everything: I would not change it." Shakespeare, As You Like It

When you are a writer it is not uncommon to go to great lengths for inspiration - like staring into the empty space of a walnut shell, sitting on the deck in the rain and watching an inflatable coconut tree get tossed around in the wind, or, for those writers on a deadline, yelling at God, "I'm desperate! I need a little help here!!" As if God had nothing better to do. But I guess that's why God has angels, for demanding folks like me, because in no time flat I had the inspired word of the day - pinecones.

I had the same reaction. Pinecones? Sure, they're great household decorations, look attractive in a wicker basket, make really cute ornaments and wonderful wreaths, but as a symbol of the spiritual life, well, that might take some work.

Everyone knows that pinecones are God's little packages of life, carrying the seeds of future pine trees. But it may not be well-known that pinecones are also the condominiums of conifers, the microhabitats of micro-bugs - mites, ants, beetles, crickets, centipedes, millipedes -- a veritable abode of arthropods.

And if that weren't enough, the divine design of the pinecone operating system has inspired members of the clothing and textile industries to mimic the process it uses to drop its seeds - scales that open only after the pine cone falls to the ground. This happens because scales are made of two layers of fibers running in opposite directions. When the cone dries out the inside of the scale expands more than the outside so the scale bends outward and releases the seed!

Impressed by nature's wisdom, two London universities are researching a new material which will be used to design "smart" clothing, clothing that adapts to temperature changes by opening and closing its fibers to either cool a person when it is hot or shut out cold air to keep someone warm.

Personally, I think God designed nature to be a formation tool in wisdom for all of us and one of the things I relearn every fall is the inescapable reality of change - crisp nights, shorter days, falling leaves, withered flowers, hay bales and corn stalks.

What I have learned this year in particular, in my conifer classroom, is the value of preparing for change rather than being taking off guard by it; of working it into the design of our lives so that the scales open and the seeds of new life have a chance to fall into fertile soil and take root.

New life is not a painless process. If flowers had the capacity to feel, I imagine spring would bring with it a host of moans and groans from beneath the ground as bulbs and seeds break open and bring forth a new generation of flowers.

Truly, change is both the impetus of pain and the promise of possibilities. But we must move through one to get to the other. There is no getting around it.

The lives of Jesus and Mary are rich studies in the reality of change, the reality of growth and its connection to new life. Their experiences are our experiences and there is much for us to learn from them.

Our Lord and his mother will prepare us for any changes we must go through in life and, better still, will walk the journey with us. Their faith can be our faith and their hope our hope. Walk with God, and you will discover that pinecones are just a small part of the story.

"We shrink from change; yet is there anything that can come into being without it?" Marcus Aurelius, 161- 180 AD.

______________________________

Mary Morrell is a free-lance writer, syndicated columnist and author of Angels in High Top Sneakers from Loyola Press.

Contact

Diocese of Metuchen
http://www.diometuchen.org NJ, US
Mary Regina Morrell - Associate Director, Office of Religious Education, 732 562.1990

Email

mmorrell@diometuchen.org

Keywords

wisdom, pinecones, writer, inspiration

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