These two intertwined,
reading as one.
Their leaves betray their unity.
One with golden yellow and
one with verdant green.
There are two trees here but it is hard to see
where one begins and one ends.
The yellow leaves make the green leaves more vibrant and
the green leaves make the yellow leaves more vibrant.
Juxtaposed against each other their colors are sharper, stronger.
I appreciate them more individually because they are so close together.
Their leaves betray their unity…
Or rather, do they speak to it?
Unity doesn’t imply sameness.
What is the point if we are the same?
These trees are both reaching for the sky, growing strong,
cleaning the air and drawing nourishment from the soil they are planted in.
They are each doing what they are supposed to do but
they are each doing it in their own way.
These two are unique, with innate differences that can’t be ignored, but
together they are better.
Together, they display who they truly are better than they could apart.
Together, they put on quite a show.
This isn’t how you and I always pursue unity.
Sometimes we forget we are about the same thing
and decide that our way of doing things is better…
when really our end goals are the same.
We try to out-do, come up with a better argument
to help the other know who is the strongest.
There’s no winning in this, and no one feels appreciated, capable or strong.
Its an entirely different kind of show –
and not one that reflects well on the one who made us.
May we pursue unity the same way as the trees –
content to do what we are each meant to do
in a way that lends more vibrancy to the one we stand next to.
