A TREE DESIGNED FOR A LEAF

Picture a seed. This seed is an elm tree seed. I decide to plant this seed in my front yard so that I can have some shade for my house (in about 20 years). I plant this seed and it starts to grow. Every day, this little "treeling" faces a new challenge. The weather changes, the neighborhood dogs decide to help with the watering, someone may step on the poor little thing and break a branch. These things are all a part of everyday life for a tree. Time goes on, and my little tree grows. It sprouts new branches, lays more roots, and enjoys the sunshine. One day, one of the branches gets so big that it blocks the sun from its neighboring branch, a smaller, less impressive branch. So what is this smaller branch to do? One of two things will happen. Either it will grow in a direction that will get it more sunlight or it will die. What happens is basically determined by its ability to grow in a new direction. If it can it will. If it can't, it will die. Doesn't really matter, I suppose. This tree is getting pretty big anyway. Finally, 20 years later, I have the shade tree for my house- a tall, beautiful elm tree. It is the most beautiful tree on the block. I look up one day and notice a leaf on my tree. It is a leaf unlike any other on the tree. It has the same basic shape, but the color is a little different and it is a little bigger than the rest. And so I ask myself, "Is this leaf special? Could the whole entire purpose of this tree be to produce this one leaf? Or is this leaf the result of 20 years of uncertainty, just doing what must be done to survive? This is a philosophical question, but I think I would find it much easier to believe the latter.

You see, this is my evolutionary analogy. One looks back and says "How incredible it is that this one leaf ended up right here on this tree." Is it really so incredible? Was this tree designed to produce this leaf? I suppose it's possible. If we did some analyses on this tree, we might think so, because everything on the tree from it's roots to its branches supports this leaf, and thus must have been designed for the support of that one leaf. In reality, that leaf's very existence is just the byproduct of years of grueling weather, competing branches, and dog avoidance. It is possible that 10 years ago, some minor change of events could have resulted in this leaf not even existing. Then I would be looking at another leaf, saying the same thing. It is there simply because that is where past events dictated. If you don't believe me, plant a tree and look at it in 20 years.

We, as humans, are a leaf on the elm tree of life. The tree has endured changes in the weather, catastrophes, and all manner of happenings. We are definitely different than any other leaf on the tree, but that doesn't mean that the purpose of the whole tree was to produce us. As to how the seed got there in the first place, that's a completely different story altogether. The tree grew, the leaves are there, and here we are. To deny the existence of the tree and its relationship with the leaf is to deny reality. Such is the story of evolution. It's not about how the seed got there, it's about the tree and how the leaf got there. I realize that this is highly philosophical and long winded, but hopefully it will help one person see the light.

© David Cox 1997