The Seed
- Melissa Como
- Sep 10, 2015
- 3 min read
How many times have you heard a great teaching with words that stirred your very soul, leaving you to think you could never forget the message because of the purity of truth and the depth of impact they had on you? How quickly do those words of life, hope, love, encouragement, with needed character development, slip away from the very place we assured ourselves they were confidently imprinted? I cannot count how many times I have sat in Sunday morning teachings or huge motivational events, shedding tears of affirmation as the speakers touched my heart and moved my soul. I have volumes of notes, reflections, valuable quotes and sayings, must-remembers and I'll-never-forgets, yet when I revisit them, it is like I'm seeing them for the very first time. Is my brain that dense? Perhaps, I'm too shallow? Or maybe, just maybe, there is in another reason? Please indulge me as I liken each pearl of wisdom to a seed.
The seed you have been given is a precious gem which you are honored to have received. You hold it in your hand and intently examine its color, shape and size. Joy lights up your face as you realize the value of the treasure you are holding. Carefully, you place it in a protective container and set it on the counter, away from anything that might damage your precious seed. True to its cruel nature, time moves on and the demands of the day tear you away from the new life waiting on the counter. As you go, you make a glib promise to come right back and tend to the seed properly, quite content that it is safely hidden out of harm's way.
The second hand, though a tiny moment, trudges on, piling up into hours, days, months and years. Sometime later, in a spring cleaning madness, you find your precious seed. Although at one point it meant so much, you do not even recognize it now. Curiously, trying to figure it out, fuzzy remembrances begin to focus in on a picture of where the seed came from and why you kept it. You recall the truths in the teaching and begin experiencing the feelings of how that moment ignited hope within you, just as they had originally. You reminisce with your old dear friend, the seed, and admonish yourself for forgetting it there in the corner. A distant sound pulls your string, forcing you to put the seed back on the counter in its all too familiar fortress of protection. As you go, you tell yourself you'll take care of the seed just as soon as you take care of the task at hand. Smiling, you walk away and shift your thoughts to the demand which pulled you away.
A week later, at your neighbor's house, you cannot help but notice a beautiful tree filled with fruit growing in his backyard. The neighbor, delighted in your admiration, explains how he had been given a seed some time back. It was a special seed, so he planted it right away and committed to taking care of it as it should be. He recalled the diligence, dedication and determination used in caring for something so precious. His sacrifice and faithfulness plucked a string in your heart. He went on to share how the young sapling began to grow and the priority he placed on it to ensure its survival at such a tender and vulnerable stage. Twang. And now, after all his hard work, here stands his beautiful seed- a mature tree providing good fruit for any who would like some. You shake his hand and thank him, excuse yourself and head straight for the dark, safe, forgotten place on your counter.
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