The Effort Of The Seed

The seed fell from the tree, onto the ground and remained there. One day a wind blew past and dragged her away.

In a strange new place, far from where she had always lived, away from the mother tree that had enveloped her, the seed felt lonely but confident that her life would change. One morning, while looking up, she saw heavy clouds gathering in the sky and realised that it was going to rain.

Soon the wind began to blow, the heavy rain fell, wetting the earth and accumulating in puddles which then formed a small stream.

The little seed, now terrified, was dragged along by the flood for a long distance... until she noticed that she had stopped. The mud had enveloped her, so she laid there, hidden in the dark, covered with dirt.

Not being to see anything, the seedling felt very sad. She was alone and unable to get out of the place where there was no light. She did not like the darkness, or the dampness, or the earth that held her, preventing her from seeing the sun.

However, she did not lose hope of a better future. She trusted that the Creator had not made her in vain.

And the seed felt life pulsating within herself and those were the beats of her heart. But what was the point of having a heart, of feeling alive, if there was nothing that could be done, since she was useless beneath the earth?

Then the seed, in tears, prayed with great faith:

- Help me, Lord. I want to have a different life, do something useful and good! Do not leave me here not being able to do anything.

And, tired of crying, the seed finally settled, falling asleep while snuggled to the soil.

One day, some time later, she woke up. She had slept a lot. She felt rested. She felt like stretching.

She filled her chest with air and opened her arms forcefully. And she saw that two delicate buds were coming out of her body. Feeling more lively, she began to push. She stretched out her arms and, full of joy, managed to break the ground!

And a beautiful spectacle appeared before her astonished eyes: the blue sky, the flowering green trees that lived nearby, the birds and especially the sun, whose warm rays warmed her body and strengthened her sap.

A few days later, she was already a beautiful little plant, strong and determined, full of small branches and green leaves.

Soon she had grown up and had become a beautiful bush. And before long, she was a tree, with a stout trunk and branches that advanced on all sides thus forming a great canopy.

Surprised and happy, she discovered that she was an apple tree!

Now, looking at everything from above, the apple tree thought about how her life had changed. Birds came to make nests in her branches; little animals were sheltering under her canopy; people protected themselves under her shadow, children climbed on her branches, and, at the right time, they would pick her fruits to feed on her sweet and tasty apples. And even the worms in the soil would benefit, taking advantage of the spoiled apples that fell to the ground.

And the apple tree welcomed all, satisfied that she could be useful. She now felt happy and fulfilled.

Her large and generous heart, full of gratitude, recognised how much she owed to the land that had wrapped her in its bosom for so long, the water that had kept her life latent and the heat of the sun that had given her the conditions to grow and develop.

She realised now that without the difficulties she had gone through she could not have become the beautiful tree that she had become.

And certainly, she thanked God, who had created her, aware that she had to go through that process of learning to grow and carry out the task that was destined for her. She felt important; she had ceased to consider herself useless. Her task could be small, but only she could accomplish it, so she now considered herself very happy.
 

AUNT CELIA

Translation:
Johnny Silveira / silveirajohnny@yahoo.com