Heroes Not Zombies

In the winter months it can seem as if all, or most, the plant life is dead. We even talk about them as “dying back” in the winter. But then along comes a bit more sunshine and suddenly there are green shoots everywhere.

The last episode of David Attenborough’s Green Planet looked at how plants find enough to root into, to grow and flourish in the tiniest cracks in tarmac or concrete. So even in the middle of “concrete jungles” in our biggest cities if you look carefully you’ll see green leaves popping up.

Put that alongside the ability of seeds to lie dormant for years then burst into activity the moment some sparse rain falls, then you realise that Life is everywhere on this little planet. It just needs the right circumstances to manifest.

It’s like that in our lives too. Our natural state is one of readiness – to survive, to grow and to flourish. We just need the right circumstances to allow all that to be manifested.

And there’s the problem – as this pandemic has made clearer than ever – we don’t organise our societies in a way where we maximise the supportive conditions for survival, growth and flourishing.

Shouldn’t we do that? Shouldn’t we organise ourselves around provision, protecting, nurture and nourishment? Or, to put it more simply, around care and the creation of opportunities for Life?