Cactus are inhabitants of naturally dry sunny places, that get small amounts of regular rain. Their roots are shallow and numerous so a small amount of water can have maximum benefit. One of the most recognizable cactus is the Prickly Pear that is shown in the picture below. These plants produce beautiful flowers and bare tasty purple “pears.”
The large flat and generally roundish protrusions are called leaves and grow in a random multidirectional configuration. Finding more than one Prickly Pear cactus with the same configuration is unlikely, but in general the leaves grow off of each other in a random pattern. The randomness of the leaves is a typical feature of the Prickly Pear. So to see a Prickly Pear without randomness of it’s leaf growth is atypical.
So with our lives: Here we have a Prickly Pear cactus that has happened to grow more in the shape of a totem pole than a typical Prickly Pear. Although most of these cactus grow in a random overlapping manner, it is obvious from this picture that is not true of them all.Not all humans look alike, and like the Prickly Pear cactus we have no control over how we are put together - -how big our noses are, the color or shape of our eyes or skin, or the size of our feet and ankles.So why do we make fun of or look down on people who are different?Do uncontrollable random differences indicate the worth of a person?What other unchosen differences attract judgement?God looks on the heart. (1 Samuel 16:7). And God knows and loves the special people who are like Totem Prickly Pears.The Buddha said, “Do not look at the faults of others, or what others have done or not done; observe what you yourself have done and have not done.” (Dhammapada 4.7)
