Parable

 

There’s not a lot to do around here. It gets dirty really quickly and no one really comes around to help clean it up. It may as well be a wasteland.

But there is one person who keeps maintaining this place. It’s a good gardener. He makes sure to check in every so often to ensure the plants that grow are cared for.

I walk over and talk to him.

     “What’s the purpose of all this maintaining? I don’t know who’s coming after, so you’re just wasting your time.”

     “Regardless, I like to tend to this garden. It keeps me occupied.”

     “What you’re saying is, you’re bored, then?”

“Not at all.” He placed his garden hose down. Every so often, he’d stop, look up from his work, and wipe the sweat off his brow. How long this man had been here I saw through his drenched forehead.

     “If I could see this plant grow, it would be my joy. You see, I have waited for this plant to grow ever so patiently. I think it’s going to bloom soon.”

     I shook my head, “But nothing has grown here for the past year. Why do you persist?”

“It is what I have committed to do.” Beads of sweat raced down his face.

What seemed like foolishness to me, the man continued to give attention to. He paid no mind to my inquisitiveness, and maybe even felt encouraged that I was curious at his endeavors.

“Would you like to see how I do it?” I took a step back. This was a stranger – someone I had known from a distance, never to approached so close to have conversation with.

“There’s not much to it,” he reassured me, noticing my hesitation. “you just dig up the ground around,” he motioned with his hands. “then you place the seed where you dug.”

“And the rest is just making sure this bad boy has enough water and care, every so often.”

“Eventually, it’ll grow to a point where you won’t have to take care of it anymore.” He stood up proudly. “it’ll get to a point where it’ll take care of itself. Like that one.

He pointed to a tree I only noticed when he had pointed to it.

The tree was old, I could tell. It wasn’t majestic by any means, and it didn’t seem like much. But there was a regal air about it. It had weathered so much, and grown strong here in this wasteland.

“That one, I knew would be magnificent... It just needed some love a care from me to make it through the tough seasons this place had to offer.”

As I reflected on the man’s words, there was a dawning on me, that whatever this man had committed to was worthwhile.

I took the shovel, and began to dig. The man helped me choose a spot, and I placed a seed into the dirt.

Years later, I came back to that spot. Wondering if the man that had helped me plant it still lived there.

I saw a green pasture. Replacing the desolate wasteland that I had been so familiar with.I almost didn’t recognize any of it.

The man came out of his house, a huge smile on his face.

“You’re back!” It was as if I had met him just yesterday.

“What happened here?”

“Take a look for yourself.”

I walked towards the garden, where he had been working and where I had planted the seed. The seed had found its home. Its branches leapt for many feet into the sky, and noticeably was a standout from the other plants.

“Isn’t it wonderful?” He stood beside me, marveling. “Who knew this would be the seed? But it grew ever diligently, almost on a schedule.”

As I walked around

The tree I had played a small part in plant, had blossomed.