"Verily, verily, I say unto you,
Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die,
it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit."
(John: 12, 24).
"Greater love hath no man than this,
that a man lay down his life for his friends."
(John: 15:13).
Little Apple Seed.
Once, there was a Little Apple Seed. It lived with its brothers and sisters in a big round apple. This big round apple grew on a big apple tree in a beautiful garden near the pond.
One day an apple tree heard a Little Apple Seed ask his Mother Apple, ‘Mother, is it true what my brothers and sisters are saying?’
'And what is this they are saying, my love?’ Asked Mother Apple.
They are saying that one day, we, small apple seeds will grow up to be big, strong, and beautiful apple trees.’
‘Yes,’ said mother apple, it is quite true.’
‘Well, what do I do to become as big and beautiful as the tree we are on?’
Mother Apple smiled and replied, ‘You have to be yourself, and you have to be strong. There will be days when you would feel sad, and there will be days when you would feel weak, and there will be days when you would feel strong. There will be days when you would see the sun, the moon, and stars. And there will be days when you would think that you’ll never see daylight anymore. But remember to be strong and to be yourself, and all your dreams will come true, and one day, you will grow up to be a big, beautiful apple tree.’
Little Apple Seed felt good listening to his mother’s words. It felt good and warm and happy. Every day Little Apple Seed would ask his brothers and sisters, ‘Do I look a bit bigger today? Did I grow a little in size from the way I was yesterday?’ And every day it would think, ‘I certainly feel a bit stronger today.’ His brothers and sisters only smiled at him as the days changed nights, and nights changed days, until one day, something happened.
One day, Mother Apple fell from the tree bumping into many pieces, turning upside down, and spinning left to right and right to left until it hit the ground with a loud thump, bounced into the air again, spun around a few more times, and crushed into a rock by the road near the pond with a cracking sound braking into two, sending little apple seeds flying all over the place.
When Little Apple Seed finally opened its eyes, it was dark all around it. It tried to call for its mother, but there was no answer. It tried to call for its brothers and sisters, but only wind could be heard somewhere up above, and many new and somehow different sounds echoed around. Little Apple Seed felt lonely and sad. It almost started to cry, when it suddenly remembered the words of its mother saying, ‘You have to be strong, and you have to be yourself… and all your dreams will come true.’ ‘I have to be strong,’ repeated Little Apple Seed in a very quiet shaky voice that sounded more like a squeak under wet and dark ground. ‘I am an apple seed, and one day, I will become a tree.’ Little Apple Seed started to repeat these words over and over, again and again – until, it fell asleep.
It fell asleep and dreamed wondrous and strange dreams. It dreamed that ground around it was freezing cold, covered with white cold blanket that sparkled under the sun and the moon with thousands different lights. It dreamed of trees without leafs and of cold angry winds singing their strange long songs. Little Apple Seed dreamed also about its brothers and sisters, and of its mother. These dreams were always pleasant and kept the seed warm. It dreamed and dreamed, and dreamed some more until, one day…
Little Apple Seed woke up! It woke up and said to itself, ‘What strange dreams I dreamed. In one of them I saw myself becoming a tree.’ Little Apple Seed started to laugh, and it opened its eyes and… in outer wonder found itself above the ground! That is, its roots were firmly planted under, with its head being way above the ground. In fact, its head was high enough to see the pond and other young apple trees around itself. Young apple trees could see the sky and the sun, hear birds and smell young green grass. There was also a wonderful aroma of an early summer morning rain. And Little Apple Seed felt good and happy, and it said to itself, ‘I don’t think I am a little apple seed anymore. Well, at least not as little as I was.’ And it smiled to itself and to everything and everyone around.
Days were changing into nights, nights were changing into days – becoming weeks. Weeks changing one another were becoming months. Months changing one another were becoming seasons. Seasons of summer were changed by autumn, and then by winter, and then by spring - becoming a year. Years were changing years and our Little Apple Seed grew, and grew, and grew some more, until one day, by the end of another summer season, it became a very big and beautiful apple tree that stood gracefully by the road, near the pond. Birds were singing in its branches-arms, and many, many big and juicy round apples grew on it. As the tree looked at itself, it couldn’t help overhearing one of the small apple seeds in one of tree’s big and round apples asking its mother, ‘Mother, is it true what my brothers and sisters are saying?’
‘And what is this they are saying, my love?’ Asked Mother Apple.
They are saying that one day, we, small apple seeds will grow up to be big, strong, and beautiful apple trees.’
‘Yes,’ said mother apple, it is quite true.’
‘Well, what do I do to become as big and beautiful as the tree we are on?’
Mother Apple smiled and replied, ‘You have to be yourself, and you have to be strong.’
The End.
ANNOUNCEMENT
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ANNOUNCEMENT:
"Close to Home" has moved!! I have consolidated my once divided interests
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15 years ago
