Image of the Tree

In a book by a Jewish physicists, Gerald L. Schroeder, The Hidden Face of God, that was recently given to me, there is an image that is profoundly important concerning the Tree of Life which a Kabbalist, Nadine Shenkar, uses to describe our work and the analogical relationship between heaven and earth, matter and spirit. It is this:

A tree lifts its leafy branches toward heaven and embraces the blessing of rain. If we didn't know better, we'd expect that the rain enters the tree's leaves and fruit directly from above. It would seem that the growth was from the top down. But not so. The rains must first enter the ground, and only then can they carry nutrients to the leaves and the fruits. In this world, reality is rooted in the material. It flows from the bottom up.To reap the beauty of this world, we too must work from the bottom up. The spiritual must first enter the physical before life can flourish.

This image precisely describes a perspective within the Abrahamic traditions that says Spirit must be embodied before it can become realized. This is the essential feature of the traditional doctrine of the Incarnation in Christianity that we most often miss. Whereas western theology puts the emphasis upon the unique manifestation of Jesus in history, this teaching says, it is not uniqueness which is critical, but the continuous expression of "incarnation" that must be realized in every human being.