A mustard seed is the most humble of all
So small, so unassuming
It does not know that its destiny is to be GREAT and TALL
When it fell to the ground it worried
Many birds came and ate many seeds
But this little seed had a destiny
It was trampled upon
Dirt covered it
Darkness consumed it
It wondered whether
It would have been better to have been
Eaten by the birds
Long it sat in darkness wondering
And learning patience by waiting
……………………….
Little lost orphan
Abandoned to the wild west
Strong from survival
Sleep was hard to find
When you always had to watch your back
And your front
It was tiring to look both ways while stealthily walking
Sometimes running and climbing
To get out of harms way
Many fights and accidents
There was no north star in view
There were others on the path
Somehow they fell off to one side
Or another
Following their own call
There was such a famine of kindness
It came in spurts
Friends for a season
Separated by force
More danger to come
The orphans heart was searching for home
So hard to not know where it was
“Are You My Mother?” said the baby bird
No, no, no, no
Where do I belong
But the call grew stronger
To find and not to search
But it was still out of reach
However, lest the orphan lose heart entirely
The world of black and white was shattered
By the sunrises and sunsets now appearing
This color was both fuel and fire
Another treacherous day accomplished by
Consuming the Universes’ artworks
On display for all
Seen by few
When you are full you don’t need to eat
When you are starving
You are ravenous for beauty
To color your soul
To make you powerful
To search another day
………………………………………………………………..
Then one day there is a crackling sound
So faint and totally unseen to the world
Done in darkness, underground
It is a sound not heard but felt
In the soul of the seed
Now waking up and realizing
Why all the darkness was necessary
There is a slow slithering sound
As a green shoot breaks the hardened shell
It winds and twists and unravels itself so quickly
As it slides through the ground and rises to meet the sun
Stretching and growing to the size of a small tree
What once was a speck on your finger
Now massive in comparison
…………………………………………………
The orphan comes to rest
Under the leaves of this mustard tree
And hears the story from the source
“I was once as small as a tiny dot” said the tree
“Who is speaking to me?” said the shocked orphan
“Trees can’t talk!”
Laughing the happy tree said
“You’ve NO idea what magical things can happen
So I will tell you
I was once so small and frightened
Thought I would be eaten by birds
Trampled underfoot was I
Covered in darkness I sat
Wondering why I should ever be here
If only to be so alone and afraid
Then just a little while ago
My mind was awakened by the mighty
Sound of my own growth
All this time I felt I was a mistake
An unhappy universal accident
But when I was growing so fast
So did my thoughts
I saw the mysteries of the Universe
They were revealed to me
So you must be as I
Since I was told that someone would sit under me
And I would be able to talk
I didn’t even know what that was
Until you came to me and sat under my giant leaves
My branches stretched out in worship
The light was transforming me so fast I felt such joy
It was stored up in me like a tornado
I heard a voice say to me
That ‘you will speak and she will hear you’
I’ve been waiting for you
Now let me tell you what the darkness meant
And about the work it did on my heart and mind
I thought I was abandoned but I was being built
The sorrow I felt was nothing in comparison
To the joy that I have now
I was dead but now I am transformed
I am alive as you can see
Now I am to tell you
You have been lost but will be found
You have been blind but you will see
Keep pressing on
You do not know where you are going
You will see when you arrive
That all along you were being led
Your sorrows will end
Your joy will come
Just as the sun rises and sets for you
Only you will be the sun rising
You will be the light for others
Just as I was just for you
Now I see those drops coming from your eyes
Notice I have caught everyone of them
See that leaf of mine
See the pool there
Look now into the water of your own tears
You will see your reflection”
And the mustard tree laughed a full bellied laugh
As the orphan stared at her own reflection
In a pool of her own tears
She gasped as she saw others’ reflections behind her laughing with the tree
She was shocked
She cried so hard and felt such deep pain
But something was different about the pain this time
This was a pain deeper and more profound
As she watched one after another come into view behind her
She turned her head to see if they were standing there
There was no one there
In her haste she bumped the leaf and it spilled all her tears to the ground
“Oh NO!” she gasped
Fear gripped her as she felt all was lost to her again
All her tears were being consumed by the ground
The tree was silent as she sadly watched the orphan grab the dirt
And weep and cry out in anguish
Curled up in a ball time passed until the tears were no more
And the silent girl gave up the fight
The tree waited and could not speak a word that wasn’t given to it
After many hours a small voice parted the girls lips
“Why, why did you show me something
I cannot see anymore
Who were those people
They looked like me somehow
I felt I knew them but we have never met
I cannot go on now without seeing them
They looked like home to me
And now I am such a klutz
And I can’t live without them, I shall die here”
The tree was silent, no words were coming to it
The tree was sad but knew now how to wait
The girl slept for 3 days under the watchful branches of the tree
One morning the sun rose so brilliantly
It woke the weary girl from her deep slumber
Slowly she sat up and leaned breathlessly against the tree
Colors flooded the sky and she gasped
Her broken heart was beating so loudly
She could hear the sound of it
She rose up and an energy rushed through her so greatly
She ran into the field as fast as she could
She was choking and gulping in air
Heaving she stopped, her body fell limp to the ground
Brilliantly the sun rose
Her chest lifted up and rays of light beamed upon it
The warmth spread through her
She heard crackling sounds
And slithering sounds
Her mind was filled with great thoughts
She saw planets and earth and sky
She saw life form from nothing to great things
She understood things without having words
Great shoots of green vines were growing through
Her heart into the ground
And up to the sky
Reaching for the sun
She was becoming a great and powerful tree
So great and rapid was her growth
That the mightiness of her
Was seen for miles and miles
Then it stopped…
The sun was in the sky, the colors gone
They were her DNA, trapped in her cells
She waited and watched only hearing
The sound of the wind through her branches
Swaying in the breeze
PEACE spread through her core
Many sunrises and sunsets came and went
As she listened to the words of generations
Spoken only to her heart
She never slept, she did not need to sleep
She grew in understanding of all she was
Why was immaterial
She had no more questions
But she had answers
She could not understand how she knew
But she did
She waited in peace
It did not matter what for
Until one day they came
From the north, south
East and West
Owls of every kind lit in her branches
She was filled with them
Each one left her with a story
She listened with her heart and said nothing
After its story was through the owl would leave
One by one
Until they were all gone
And the sun set
The tree fell asleep in the dark
When the sun rose in the morning
The girl found herself lying in a meadow of tall grasses on a bed of moss
She rose to find herself a woman
No longer a child
No longer a tree
And she saw a path that stretched out before her
Now she set her foot to it
Not alone as she once thought
But surrounded by a pool of her ancestors
Guided by a heart and soul fueled by love
By understanding
That she did not need to know why anymore
She just knew
_____________________________________________________________________________________
The Sarah Hale Folger Project seeks to inspire greatness in humanity by sharing inspiring stories with the world. Please contact me here on my blog or through my website at http://www.TheArtUniverse.com
Sarah Hale Folger is a Creative Consultant, Artist, Singer and Educator. PLEASE make sure to subscribe to my blog today so you never miss the next thing happening in the world the way I see it! Please feel free to comment, share and please, subscribe to my blog. Thanks You.