Object Lesson: Mushrooms in Our Life

Object Lesson: Mushrooms in Our Life
Tuesday, January 3, 2023 by Phyllis Kester

After many days of rain and drizzle, I glanced out the window and caught my breath. “Wow, what are those?”

My husband walked across the kitchen to see where I was pointing. “Oh, those large clusters of orange mushrooms? I spotted them yesterday and thought you might like to take some pictures before I get rid of them.”

“My goodness! Yes!” Grabbing my camera, I went sloshing across the wet backyard. On closer inspection, I discovered different sizes and colors of mushrooms, some brilliant orange, and others rust or tan. They had sprouted almost overnight in an area where a large tree had once been. Must be the combination of all the rain and those rotting roots from that oak we cut down, I thought. I knew that mushrooms—a type of fungi—grow anywhere there is a source of food and continuous moisture, and that they grow especially well on decaying organic matter.

I call mushrooms a fascinating hidden kingdom because they don’t need light to grow and because the part of the fungus that we see is only the fruit (like an apple) of the hidden body of the fungus. That body may be dispersed over a relatively large area underground. It can even be many square miles in size. However, it goes unnoticed until the sudden appearance of its fruit (what we usually call a mushroom). When I was in school we were taught that mushrooms were plants; but now they’re considered part of the Fungi kingdom, separate from plants and animals.

It intrigues me that the actual living body of the fungus (mycelium) is a web of tiny filaments or a mass of branching, thread-like parts. It remains unseen in the soil—or wood, or other food source—as it stores nutrients and other essential compounds. When enough material is stored and the conditions are right, the unseen body produces fruit (mushrooms).

I had never seen such huge ones spring up almost overnight! Just one cluster could fill a bushel basket. How could they grow so quickly? I went to the Internet to find the answer. To my surprise, I discovered that although the fungus’ body grows by cell division, the fruit does not. When a mushroom starts to develop, it has almost the same number of cells that it will have when it’s mature. It increases in size through cell ENLARGEMENT! Can you believe it? The cells can balloon very rapidly, and little energy is required. A mushroom can increase in size as fast as water can be pumped into its cells. That means that almost overnight it can go from tiny to very large—sort of like those little animal-shaped sponges I’ve bought for my grandchildren, which expand as they soak up water.

Suddenly a new thought occurred to me. This is a picture of how the hidden body of knowledge, skills, and attitudes spreading underneath one’s usual personality can surface in a flash when the conditions are right. That’s why a quiet bystander rushes to save a child trapped in a burning house, or a seemingly normal person suddenly erupts in screaming, cursing, or violence.

That hidden body that has been fed and nourished over time can suddenly bring forth the fruit of that unnoticed network when the circumstances are right. I made a mental note that mushrooms show me why it is so important to “train up a child in the way he should go” and why we all need to be careful what we feed our minds. What we watch, read, think about and hear from companions, music, and media will all strengthen that unnoticed network. Whatever we “feed” will grow, even if that growth is unseen.

Too often we feast on time-filling and mind-numbing-junk, but the mushrooms remind us that we need to think about what type of fruit—good or bad—we want in our lives and in the lives of those around us. It is what we are quietly absorbing into our minds, consciously and unconsciously, that will someday emerge as fruit.

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