When I looked up, it brought me to tears. (*Cue another round of epic soundtrack music for this one!)
I was on a walk in my neighborhood when my eyes were drawn upwards to countless intricately created leaves, dangling like emerald jewels, all with their veins exposed and illuminated by the glowing sun. I found myself amidst a flood of awe-struck thoughts and a few tears, marveling at how God created billions of detailed leaves, all hanging overhead, pointing to His divine nature. All I needed to do was lift my eyes to the sun, and to His Son, for these reminders!
(Photo credit: Carrie Breedlove, June 2024)
Warning: Continue reading at your own risk. You may never see leaves the same way again and might find yourself smiling at trees the next time you see them! :) After my moment of awe and wonder at the leaves on my walk, I got to thinking about what happens inside these leafy creatures. Follow me on this... On the third day of the earth's existence, God created trees that would produce jillions of these perfectly crafted leaves. Each leaf has a defined shape, an apex (the point or tip of the leaf), and a base attached to a stalk that connects the leaf to the branch. The branch provides the plant or tree with nutrients and support (much like how your head takes in nutrients through your mouth and disperses them to the whole body on a cellular level). Each leaf has a main vein down the middle and tiny veins branching off the main vein, providing additional structure and transporting nutrients (think highways and side streets, similar to the veins in your own body). And guess what all these veins are transporting... water and sugar!
Stop and step outside of biology class with me for a moment and think about this... The trees and all those leaves are full of SUGAR! What?! Have we been walking through a real-life, everyday "candy" factory all this time and didn't know it?! Okay, so the leaves don't taste like Jolly Ranchers, but the fact remains that they are full of sugar.
And it gets even better... God has made the leaves to work on our behalf! Each leaf has an epidermis (the outer layer of cells) and a cuticle (a waxy layer protecting the epidermis to reduce water loss, like a reverse raincoat). Each leaf also has a stoma (a small opening on the leaf's surface, like a door to the factory) AND GUARD CELLS that regulate the opening and closing of these entry points. This is starting to sound like a high-security manufacturing facility.
And guess what the guard cells are allowing to enter the leaf... our waste! Also known as carbon dioxide, the stuff we breathe out every minute of the day without even thinking twice about it. I mean, when was the last time you consciously thought about breathing, much less what was being invisibly expelled with your breath?
On that note, just for the sake of feeding the plants, can we all let out a big sigh... and think about that breath moving carbon dioxide (C.D.) through the air to the door of the nearest leaf factory? A guard cell pokes it's head out, smiling and waving him inside with a, "Hey there, C.D.! Good morning! Have a great day at work in the leaf factory today!" AND... we aren't done. Just below the epidermis is a layer of elongated, closely packed cells (palisade). These cells are arranged this way for the divine purpose of capturing maximum light energy (think of seals all crammed together sunbathing).
The light energy taken in by the "seal cells" will expertly be converted into chemical energy, aka glucose, aka sugar! Wow! Whether the wind is moving the leaves or they are lying still, think about all the work happening inside each of them!
But why stop there... Have you ever stopped to meditate on and contemplate where we get all the oxygen we breathe in second by second? Or why we don't have to walk around with massive oxygen tanks or space suits just to breathe?
It's the leaves!
Right now, as you read this, they are breathing in our carbon dioxide waste! Then they use the carbon dioxide, water, and energy from the sun rays to create sugar. Like any factory, they have waste to get rid of in this process. Guess what the guard cells are rolling out in the leaf factory's top-security trash bins each day... Oxygen!! The leaf's waste is filling our lungs right now! I mean, can we all just stop and say WOW together?! One leaf's trash is another human's treasure and vice versa! :)
Side note and fun fact: Our oxygen supply comes from plants, especially forests like the rainforests, which are often called "the lungs of the Earth." Cool, right? However, about 50-70% of our oxygen actually comes from phytoplankton—"high-security plant factories" in the ocean. These tiny organisms have guard cells that daily roll out trash bins of oxygen waste into the water, which then gets diffused into the atmosphere! Now take a big, deep, oxygen-rich breath in with me, followed by a long, slow, carbon dioxide-filled exhale of "Thank You" to an AMAZING Creator who orchestrated this phenomenal process to sustain all life!
Now go and breathe in the breath of life today and maybe... just maybe smile at a tree and give a wink to the Wonderful Maker of the heavens and earth from whom your life has come! - Carrie Breedlove MS, LPC Helping you find joy on your unchosen journey through Christian based therapy and childlike wonder! ;)
(A colorful summer marine phytoplankton bloom fills much of the Baltic Sea in this image captured by Envisat's MERIS on 13 July 2005.)
(Phytoplankton - the foundation of the oceanic food chain. Image ID: fish1880, NOAA's Fisheries Collection Location: New York Bight area Photo Date: 1973 ca. Credit: NOAA MESA Project)
(Rainforest, San Antonio Del Tequendama, Cundinamarca, Colombia)
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