What is an electron? A particle? A wave? A piece of something? A packet of energy? We only infer what an electron is when we perceive the interactions of vast numbers of them with vast numbers of other things. An electron is one thing when it is part of an oxygen atom, quite another when it is part of a titanium atom. What is an atom? An oxygen atom is one thing when it is part of a diatomic oxygen molecule, another thing when it is part of the ozone layer, yet another when it is part of a water molecule, and very much another when it is part of a sulfuric acid molecule. What is a water molecule? It is one thing when it is part of the vital fluids of my body, and quite another indeed when it is part of the torrents inundating a sinking ship.
And what am I? Well, perhaps I'm about 6'1" and 215 pounds, and perhaps I'm an INTJ on the Myers Briggs scale, and perhaps I don't have much hair left, but that's only what I look like, not what I am. I am one sort of person with my family, another sort with my fellow bicyclists on a century ride, yet another in church, and entirely another on the internet. And when I am all by myself, who cares?
Thus it is with the Tapestry of Life. We are known by our interrelationships. We have no meaningful existence by ourselves. Each person is a significant being only as a thread in the tapestry. Remove one thread and the tapestry must then be rewoven into a different form.
This implies that everyone around me is vital to my existence. If I lose one friend, I need to redefine my existence. If I should lose a family member, of course the redefinition would be very drastic and very difficult, and would involve a total change in my entire lifestyle. I would need to become an entirely different person. If, on the other hand, my favorite waiter leaves his job and goes to work for a different restaurant, then the redefinition may be no more than simply deciding to dine out less often at one place and more often at another.
Thus we see we are all interdependent. We are all vital to each others existence. The truly strong people are those who use their dependence on others to strengthen the entire tapestry. Of course, there are going to be those individuals who exhibit a sick form of dependency that will put wrinkles in the surrounding fabric. And then there will always be those "rugged individualists" who are no more than the frayed edges of the Tapestry of Life.
I am thankful for the opportunity to participate in the Tapestry of Life. But how shall I thank the Universal Reality (whatever it might be) that provided me with these wondrous gifts of life, intellect, and a world to live in? I am perfectly aware that the God about which we recite creeds in my chosen religion is a figment of someone's fertile imagination. But in the fellowship of my religion, I am forming an additional strengthening bond within the tapestry, and as the congregation joins together in our creeds and prayers to this imaginary God, perhaps the True Essence of the Universe will understand our intent.
If I could speak to the whole world, what would I say? Do I need to say anything? If my life does not speak for itself, don't I have a problem?
Is there anyone I couldn't live without? Tough question. I guess I need everyone around me in order to live. Every time someone close to me leaves, my life as I know it ends and a new life must begin. When I, in my present form, leave this world, what's next?
