Life Finds a Way

Life finds a way.
It is persistent.
It overcomes adversity.

We cover the ground with concrete and before you know it, there are plants growing in the cracks, or seams, where only a tiny amount of soil is available to provide the nutrients for survival.  The plant sends a minuscule root down through the crack into the soil below and then, as the plant begins to grow, expands, pushing constantly against the man made rock until it chips and fragments as small as a grain of sand add to the available soil that sustains it.  In time the cracks grow and the concrete is destroyed.

In the aftermath of a fire the ground is covered with ash and the charred remains of what once stood.  Only a brief time later it is covered by weeds and other growth that utilize those ashes as food for growth.  Not only are plants taking root, so are bacteria and fungi filling the void.  Animals of all kinds quickly move into the new territory until there is a complete ecosystem within the space.

People do the same thing.  When the North American continent was first occupied by nomadic tribes who crossed the Siberian peninsula into what is now Alaska and worked their way south, they first settled the most hospitable lands, but eventually spread to inhabit marginal areas.  The same occurred again as Europeans discovered the land and spread from the east coast to the west, first establishing settlements in the most fertile areas but quickly filling even the deserts.

What is the common thread which links all life forms that seems to drive life to multiply and overcome adversity in order to establish its presence universally?

Even in the deepest ocean depths, in areas around volcanic vents that release chemicals that are toxic to most lifeforms, life thrives.  Life adapts to conditions and exploits the opportunities presented, even when they are difficult to see.

Is there a common strand embedded deep within the DNA of all living things which provides the key to this persistence?  What drives life to spread and fill the earth?  Is it only the earth?  If not already there in some form, is life meant to spread throughout the universe?  Could man's desire for space travel be simply the impetus for life of many forms to spread from this planet throughout the galaxy and beyond?

Perhaps it is "the force" described in Star Wars....

I don't have the answers this morning, just speculating on life.