It's a mistake to think that species always compete in nature.  In many cases cooperation is the name of the game.

At the simplest level plants and fungi send chemical messages to each other to signal their willingness to enter into beneficial cooperative arrangement.  Many fungi grow and reproduce only in plant roots.  The arrangement benefits both partners.  The plant furnishes sustenance to the fungus.  In return, the fungus spreads threads out from the plant's roots. T his effectively extends the root system, thereby bringing in nutrients more efficiently.

Scientists have now discovered that plants can actually send chemical signals that stimulate the fungi to invade them.  Two specific chemical compounds that are effective in attracting fungi have been isolated from clover roots.  Chemists have made both these attractants in the laboratory.

They found that clover grew better if the soil contained these compounds, together with the fungal spores.   When the spores were present, the added compounds reinforced the natural signals emitted by clover roots and brought more fungi to invade the roots.  The increased clover-fungus interaction was directly associated with the enhanced growth of the clover.

So next time, remember that even very simple life forms send messages to each other, that encourage beneficial cooperation.

MOVING BEYOND MATTER
by Deborah Piggott

Cooperation is something that effects all of us, in all stages of life.  I have watched a young mother desperately trying to get cooperation out of her toddler and I've had some personal experience trying to coax an elderly parent into putting a warm coat on, on a bitterly cold day.

The word itself means to work jointly with others, to be helpful as opposed to hostile.  Most of us first learn to cooperate with family members - sharing a bedroom with a sibling, for example, requires cooperation. Household chores are completed faster and with less effort when all pitch in.  The shared attention of a parent can be misunderstood when one child has a greater immediate need than another.  So cooperation is a factor there as well.

As we move on to the work place those skills of cooperation can be a great asset.  The ability to work with others often determines an employees longevity and makes the hours spent at work more pleasant for everybody.

Friendships, especially those leading to marriage, perhaps require the highest amount of cooperation.  Making a burden lighter for a friend or a spouse comes naturally when we carry that spirit of cooperation.

Sad to say at the bottom of most severed friendships, broken homes, split churches lies a common denominator and that's lack of this vital ingredient.

Spending time together, sharing a load, knowing your secret is safe, having someone that you can just be yourself with; well that describes friendship.  It is hard to grasp the concept that God created mankind for fellowship or friendship with Himself. 

Joseph Scriven composed a famous hymn in 1857, "What a Friend We Have in Jesus."  Joseph's sorrow was great as he mourned the loss of his fiancé.  And though his heart broke with personal tragedy, he wrote that Jesus died, "All our sins and grief to bear."   These words remind us we could have no greater friend than Jesus.