Page 15 - The Miracle In The Seed

I n the pictures below, what are these things that resemble shrive-
led bits of wood? Can these objects transform into a living thing?

Some would think they were fruit pits, brushwood or even a kind
of rubbish. But then take these objects and put them in a pot in some
earth and wait for a time. If you want to see the result, turn the page.
From the pictures overleaf, you will understand that each of these
dried bits of matter is a seed. And when the conditions are right, they
sprout in an amazing way to produce plants of many varieties. So what
sets these small, dry things apart from an inert chunk of dry wood?
Seeds have a very important characteristic that makes them diffe-
rent: They contain the knowledge of the shape of each stem, each leaf,
the number of leaves, the thickness and color of the skin or bark, the di-
ameter and number of the channels through which nutrients and wa-
ter flow, the height of the plant, whether or not it will bear fruit, and if
it does, its taste, aroma, shape, color – in short, every possible detail
about the plant that the seed will produce.
If we were seeing these seeds for the first time with no idea what
they were for, could we guess that countless plants, each different from
the others, would emerge, and that some would reach meters in he-