From A Seed

When I was in about the sixth or seventh grade, my brother and I walked to school.  It wasn’t far and the walk was no big deal even in the snow.  Walnut Street hill was a bit of a climb and I suppose back then, it seemed formidable and a burden, but as I drove down that street this past year, the hill didn’t seem that big at all.  Along that walk we had to pass by a cemetery, but in the daylight, it wasn’t as sinister or scary as it was at night.  As I said, the walk to school was no big deal.

Along the way, my brother and I would pelt each other with acorns scattered on the ground from oak trees.  Further along the walk, we’d find chestnuts.  Now those babies could leave a welt!  When it was winter, the snow gave us a good excuse for an impromptu snowball fight. But nonetheless, boys will be boys, I suppose.   

I have always found it fascinating that a tiny seed, when planted and mixed with a little rain and a little sunshine could grow into something so stately, so tall as a tree.  A growing tree doesn’t happen overnight.  It takes time, years.  And eventually, when it grows . . . as it grows, it sheds more seeds so that those, too, have the potential to grow into something equally magnificent.

From A Seed.

Sometimes these seeds are planted with purpose.  Farmers purposefully plant seeds.  Selecting the best field and then spacing them out so that each plant will have room to grow.  They fertilize and cultivate until the crop takes shape and then they harvest.  Takes time, patience, effort, and sometimes, can be frustrating, because they know better than others that not all seeds make it.  But most do.  They do.

From A Seed.

Each of us, each day, at many times during the day, plant seeds.  With each other.  With our kids.  Even with ourselves.  These seeds can be positive and nurturing.  They can be comforting and supportive.  They can build up.  Yet, sometimes, these seeds can be negative and can destroy.  They can tear down. 

And it is these seeds I worry about.  These seeds that can be infectious, diseased laden, and have lasting, sometimes permanent, damage when planted.  The scary part is we won’t know, just like that tree that grows From A Seed, what that diseased seed will grow into until many years later from the time it was first planted.  A scary prospect.

Farmers never knowingly plant destructive seeds.  Never!  They want crops to grow, to thrive, and to eventually, benefit many.

As I look back, I think that there were many in my own life who planted seeds within me: Sr. Josephe’ Marie way back in sixth grade planted the seed for writing.  Mrs. Wagner and Sr. Angelus nurtured the seed for music that was planted by my mom and dad and my brothers and sisters.  Fr. Jim and Fr. Mike nurtured the seed of faith for which I’m so thankful and have leaned on, especially in the last year, even though that seed was actually planted by my mom and dad from little on.

And then there were others who shall remain nameless who tried to plant within me the seeds of negativity, of doubt, of smallness, even of hatred that hopefully, have or had no lasting foothold in my being.  Yet, they too, shaped me into who I am.  At times, I still doubt myself, my actions, my words, my abilities.  I guess these seeds are still with me and somehow took root.

From A Seed.

So I wonder this day, what type of farmer you are . . .

The kind of farmer who plants seeds of hope and love, of compassion and support, of strength and compassion?  Or, the kind of farmer who plants seeds of doubt and negativity . . . the kind of farmer who likes to plant seeds to destroy and tear down, the type of farmer who finds nothing positive to say or do, but instead will . . .

Which kind of farmer are you?  Because From A Seed you sow today, you have the power to change a life . . . many lives . . . even your own life . . . for the better or for the worse.  Whether you realize it or don’t.  So what kind of farmer are you?  Something to think about . . .

For My Readers:

Thank you for taking the time to read my weekly blog.  Hopefully you find it satisfying and gives you food for thought, and along the way, entertains you.

Thank you, too, for picking up a copy of the prequel to my Lives Trilogy, Taking Lives, which can be found at: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00MG2JAWE?ie=UTF8&at=aw-android-pc-us-20&force-full-site=1&ref_=aw_bottom_links  Remember that as a prequel, Taking Lives is just a taste of what will come, an introduction, to the Lives Trilogy.  It has an ambiguous ending, purposely so.

Stolen Lives, is the first book of the Lives Trilogy and can be found at: http://www.amazon.com/Stolen-Lives-Trilogy-Book-ebook/dp/B00PKKN6W4/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1415908221&sr=1-1&keywords=Stolen+Lives%2C+Joseph+Lewis The second book of the Lives Trilogy, Shattered Lives, will be out either later this month or at the beginning of March.  I’ll keep you posted as to its arrival date.

Please know that these books are works of fiction (thriller/mystery), but based upon research and my conversations with kids and parents.  I hope you give them a read.  As always, thanks!

jl