The Seed

There was this guy who lived a long time ago.  He was not very fancy, probably not formally educated, but he made people think. Sometimes, he made people angry because he required them to think. You may have heard of him.  His name was Jesus. 

One day, he asked the people who were listening to consider a seed. He suggested they think about the mustard seed. He asked them to notice how small it was. (He said it was the smallest of all seeds, but that was probably just for effect–there are plenty of others smaller than a mustard seed). But, it’s a seed, and it’s small, and that’s what he wanted them to notice.  Look how small this thing is. But, if you plant it, it sprouts, and it becomes a seedling, and the seedling, if it is cared for, grows and grows until it becomes this tree (okay, Jesus must have known about a mustard plant that is different from ours. Our mustard looks more like spinach and collards when it grows). But this mustard seed that Jesus knew about became a tree, and he said, look–it gives shelter to all the birds of the air where they can rest, and build nests and make families and fill the earth with birdsongs. All of that potential in this one seed.

And he said, you are like that. Take that responsibility and skill and knowledge and potential that is in you, and nurture it and make it grow into something that gives shelter and life to so many others. Something like a seed, and a seedling–so tiny and vulnerable.  And so powerful. You are like that. I am like that. If we go into this day with that possibility in mind, we will find the right place to plant the seed that becomes the tree that shelters life that becomes love.

~Bob Patrick