Commutative Property of Math Does Not Apply to Life

The commutative property of math: A+B=B+A does not apply to life. Lost and found, is not the same as found and lost. For if something lost is found, there is joy, but if something found is lost, there is sadness.

I only mention it in passing.

I found a tree of shade in an open field, and I used to go there to sit and think. The tree gave me thoughts that I had never had before. One day, it was gone. Someone came and took the tree away, and there was only an empty field. At first, I felt quite empty, as if I had lost a valued friend, but then I realized that someone had removed that tree for a reason, just as surely as it had been placed there.

Like a flower that blooms and shares its beauty, only to quickly wilt and fade, my secret spot had been taken from me, but it's memory remains. A wise hiker learns that there are many hills and pastures, and many sights beyond his favorite destination. But still, I am reminded of Robert Frost's poem, "Reluctance".

From which, my favorite part is:

Ah, when to the heart of man
Was it ever less than a treason
To go with the drift of things,
To yield with a grace to reason,
And bow and accept the end
Of a love or a season?

I stand in an empty field, lacking the desire momentarily, to hike further. I remember that beautiful tree, and reminisce my moments there, embraced in the thoughts which it shared with me. And I wonder, did the tree ever sense that I was there? Would it have shared its thoughts so freely if it had? I think the tree shared, hoping that someone was there, but never really knowing.

And in that respect, I shared its prayers.

I sat beneath a tree and shared its thoughts, and I was made the more for it, unbeknown and unknowing.

Trees yield their fruits so that their seeds may be propagated and live on. Those thoughts from the tree are now in me, and they live and travel with me. If fertile ground is found, I will plant them elsewhere.

A tree shared its secret thoughts with me and I will carry them forward.