From the Spiritual Tree
There is a tree beside my house. I call it the 'Spiritual Tree'. I derive spiritual inspiration from it. A tree is an evergrowing being that was initially a seed possessing the potential of becoming a full-grown tree. A seed takes food from the universe around it and then grows into a tree. The same is true with spirituality, the desire for which is intrinsic to, and an integral part of, the very nature of, every human being. To realize this spirituality, Man must derive spiritual food from the universe around him. A tree converts carbon-dioxide into oxygen; a spiritual person is one who can take positive lessons from negative situations. From this perspective, a tree is an embodiment of a spiritual personality. — Maulana Wahiduddin Khan
Signs of God
It was the 7th of September, 1982, and I was in a mountainous region in Africa, standing in front of a tree that I hadn’t ever seen before.
THE entire tree appeared as a sign of God. Everything about it seemed strange. Its delicate flowers, its fruits, its leaves that seemed to have been crafted with mathematical precision— everything about the tree announced that it had not grown on its own, but, rather, that it had been made by someone—its Maker. Like this tree, every other tree anywhere in the world is a model of God’s craftsmanship. But not having seen this sort of tree before, it had greatly affected me. On seeing this strange and beautiful African tree, I spontaneously said:
It seems that everything that God has made in this world has written on it the phrase 'Made by God'!
It is as if God wrote the words 'Made by God' on everything and then kept Himself hidden from people’s vision so that they could recognize Him from the things that He has created. Despite His being invisible, they could, in this way, discern His presence.
A person with an expert knowledge of machines can, simply by looking at a particular machine, tell you where it has been made. The same is true with every other thing in the entire universe. We are in a world full of ‘natural machines’, as it were, each of these continuously doing its work.
These ‘machines’ do not have a visible stamp on them indicating who made them. But because their manufacturing is so extraordinary and the craftsmanship that has gone into making them so utterly unique, they themselves announce who their Creator is. In this way, all created things and beings clearly tell us about the Creator.
Nothing in the natural world has a label on it stating in words who made it. But, if you go deeper, you will realize that each of these has, written on it as it were, the name of their Creator. Anyone can clearly discern that every created thing is undoubtedly made by God, and not by anyone else.
