Page 105 - The Miracle In The Seed

Germination: The Vital Phase

There is another interesting aspect to
germinating seeds. Soil bacteria have the
capacity to rot and break down organic
matter, yet seeds and roots no more than
half a millimeter in breadth are not dam-
aged at all. On the contrary, they use the
soil to maintain constant development and
growth.
Reviewing the information given so
far, we face an extraordinary situation. The
cells making up a seed suddenly start to
differentiate into different forms to create
different parts of the plant. Think a little
more objectively about the root’s growth
towards the earth and the shoot’s growth
against gravity towards the surface. That
these seemingly frail structures move in
two different directions suggests that this
must be a time of a very important deci-
sion. Who or what determines the time
when the cells start to differentiate? And
who or what shows them which direction
to go in? How does every cell act according
to which part of the plant it will grow to
be? There is never any confusion of which
direction the cells grow – for instance, why
don’t the roots try to grow out of the soil,
instead of down into the earth?
To questions like these, there is only one answer. Naturally the
plant itself doesn’t make and implement these decisions, or set up the
systems necessary to avoid confusion. Nor are the cells that compose
the plant able to do this. A cell can’t predict and decide, or consciously