Frank Thoms

It’s absurd to ask “how is it that the Earth doesn’t fall down?” But this “old joke” raises the point while each of us is unique we are a species that’s in it together. From our earliest days as hunter gatherers, we have depended upon one another, now more than ever in our global world. And if we fail to live in harmony with the Earth, there will be no more resting on “turtles all the way down.”

On another level, we visualize ourselves as part of the cosmos, each of us as a fragment of a greater whole, a single stitch in a garment. We depend on the fragments around us, accept their contributions, and make our own. As a stitch we do our part to keep it whole.

We do not replace our predecessors as a light bulb replaces a worn one. We arrive, each of us a unique filament, yet to be lit. We will act as agents in the world.

At the same time, as “turtles” we work in communion to find meaning. If we don’t, we will not survive. Solitary fragments are shards, brittle, disconnected, isolated, ones broken off from a ceramic mosaic.

~     ~     ~

You may envision yourself as taking your turn in human history. You fulfill your task only to turn it over to another when your time is up, the same way you took the reins from your predecessor.

You live life as well as you can. You are not alone in your mission. You pay attention to what’s in front of you and commit to being the person you want to be. When you serve, you see yourself as part of the great microcosm, “each grain of sand or snowflake…only in aggregation as a part of the whole does one contribute to the beach or to the blizzard.”

To offer others a full life, you offer yours. Your one and only chance!