Power

What is power? You may think power is the man with his finger hovering over the nuclear button. The Judge sentencing the criminal, the headmaster disciplining a student, the parent advising the child.

Power is a strange word. Humans strive to gain it, to be superior to their brothers, sisters, friends, workmates. Football teams spend millions and building the most successful team. Politicians speak of superiority over other parties and spend their lives struggling to be one step ahead of the opposition.

The Managing director. He has power doesn’t he? He could invest in the wrong deal and thousands could lose their jobs. The surgeon operating on the elderly lady. He holds her life in his hands. That is power.

The president of the might USA, or what about the pope, or even God? God must have the power divine, right?

Then there is money. It is said money talks, it can open doors, it can buy you anything you want. That sounds pretty awesome to me.

What about the general, ordering his troops to go into battle. He decides whether they live or die. Does he feel powerful?

You may think of power as a physical force. Electricity, petrol, gas, oil. These are the tools to keep us safe, warm ,fed and help transport us all over the world. That surely must count.

Fire. Fire can consume all. It can take everything from us, even our lives. Then there is the mighty sea. That holds an immense power. It can feed us or it can destroy us, it can play with us and then toss us to our deaths. We have no hold over it.

We all have different ideas of what power is.

In my hands I hold a handful of seeds. Small, brown and tiny. Dry as dust. But these seeds are the most powerful thing in the world. They are a tiny dormant force, waiting for their time. I can hold the formula to grow redwoods, weeping willows, blood red roses. I can hold the potential to feed the world in my hands. I mix small forests, fields of corn, might oak trees. All programmed to respond to warmth and moisture and grow towards the most powerful force of all, the sun.. When their key is turned, the lock springs open. These minute seeds have the will to force their way through tarmac, cling to the sides of mountains, spread to the far corners of the world and survive.

Power is not always obvious and when the chips are down and we are gone, the seeds of life will remain, ready to take their place and bloom forever in the mighty universe.