Identity

A science professor was delivering a slide lecture. A forest scene flashed onto the screen. In the center of the picture stood an oddly-shaped tree. “I want you to look closely at that tree,” said the professor to his class. “You can easily see that its growth was impeded by that big boulder. Because the tree was forced to grow around the boulder, its trunk is bowed. Notice how fire has blackened its bark. Notice that one side is totally devoid of branches. These are all examples of how environment shapes all things in the universe. That monstrous object doesn’t look at all like a pine tree!” To which a student responded, “But, professor, it is still a pine tree, isn’t it?”

Clearly the student was more concerned with the tree’s essence than with its appearance. He looked beyond the twisted base, the blackened bark, the bowed trunk, the dead branches, and he saw a pine tree. Although it was not nearly as robust or…