Love Yourself–You are Miraculously Conceived
Other Posts in this Series
- The “I” In “Love”
- Love Yourself–You are Miraculously Conceived
- Love Yourself–Including Your Body
- Love Yourself–Including Your Gifts
- Love Yourself–Including Your True Nature
I am a tree in a forest of six billion trees.
I am not the most majestic tree, nor am I the weakest tree. All variety of trees surround me–coniferous and deciduous, broad-leafed and needled. Some are tall with long limbs that reach up toward the sky. Others are broad with massive limbs that stretch sideways. Some have smooth, flaky bark, while others are wrapped in thick, course coats.
I am unlike any of the six billion trees in my forest, yet I am similar to many. As I look around, I see some of similar height. They have branches that contort like my own and leaves that take on the same shape. We are somehow related. We are not the same, though. There are parts of me that look and feel bizarre No other tree laughs at me, however, because they, too, have their own oddities and grotesque protrusions. We are alike and we are different–unique, miraculously conceived.
One would think that with six billion trees in my forest there might be a duplicate of me somewhere, but there is not. One might also think that with so many trees, I might become invisible, lost in a sea of greens and browns, indistinct and unimportant. Perhaps that is so if one were to fly over the forest in a plane. All they would see would be a green ocean in which one drop mixes with the next. However, if you were to walk in the forest beneath the trees, you could find me. You could stand beneath me and feel my shade. You could touch me and feel the impressions upon your hand. You might even take a piece of me and carve a remembrance to take with you.
Sometimes I feel lost in the forest and wonder if the forest would miss me if I no longer grew there. The answer is always “yes” because I contribute to the forest what no other tree can contribute–my shape, my tangled branches, my unique being. Occasionally, a tree close to me dies through natural causes or some violent act. I miss their presence and the pure delight of their shade.
Loving ourselves must mean recognizing our uniqueness and incomparable existence. It must mean embracing the gift of our individuality and recognizing the goodness of our place among the vast forest of people that populate our world. Loving ourselves means affirming our differences and our similarities and finding joy in both.
To love others as we love ourselves, then, means we embrace the individuality and goodness of all people. We recognize the uniqueness of every person and refuse to simply lump them in a category or view them only as an aggregate of flesh. Instead, we desire to stand beneath their branches, be gladdened by the shade they offer and allow their unique patterns to leave impressions on our hands.
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