Scientists have discovered that neighboring trees’ roots become interconnected underground, forming a larger system. They communicate and share nutrients.1, 2
In the same way, couples are supposed to be so intertwined that they form one ecosystem, a seamless union in which as one ANR woman put it, one member of the couple can say “I don’t know where I end and you begin.”
I don’t see how an honest observer can peer into God’s creation and fail to notice this synergistic, symbiotic intimacy everywhere.
I and the Father are one.
– Jesus Christ, John 10:30
4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. 5 I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
– Jesus Christ, John 15
See also: The beautiful tracer experiment
References:
1. Do Trees Talk to Each Other? | Science | Smithsonian Magazine: “For young saplings in a deeply shaded part of the forest, the network is literally a lifeline. Lacking the sunlight to photosynthesize, they survive because big trees, including their parents, pump sugar into their roots through the network. [Forester Peter] Wohlleben likes to say that mother trees ‘suckle their young,’ which both stretches a metaphor and gets the point across vividly.”
“Mother trees are the biggest, oldest trees in the forest with the most fungal connections. They’re not necessarily female, but [scientist Suzanne] Simard sees them in a nurturing, supportive, maternal role. With their deep roots, they draw up water and make it available to shallow-rooted seedlings. They help neighboring trees by sending them nutrients, and when the neighbors are struggling, mother trees detect their distress signals and increase the flow of nutrients accordingly.”
2. Exploring The Underground Network of Trees – The Nervous System of the Forest | Harvard University
Christ-centered ANR 