May 18, 2006

The Life of a Seed

At on time there was a poppy seed who liked to do some thinking from deep within its mother-flower.

The seed was in a melancholy mood and was considering his days to come. "Now why is it that I'm so put off with the idea of falling to the earth and becoming a duplicate flower?" he thought, as always, to himself. "I'm uncomfortable with the whole idea. I wish to be something special, something unique. I refuse to follow the pattern of my ancestors. I must be free to choose. I must have access to my destiny!"

Suddenly a robin appeared, and brushing against the mother poppy, caused many seeds to spill from the flower and into the open air. Our seed friend went flying, as did many of his brothers and sisters, over and down to the earth below.

After a brief journey of about five human hand lengths, our little friend bounced to and fro, quicker than most eyes could see, and ended up being seated comfortably in in a small grey indentation there in his mother's meadow. He thought, "Well, that wasn't too bad of a journey. Somehow I pictured my release from mom differently. But anyway, now I suppose I am to grow in the traditional manner. Hummph!"

Although he actually felt good, his concerns didn't allow him to appreciate it. He busied himself in his self-torment, regarding what he considered a cold, forced and regimented destiny. "Is it possible to change that destiny? No, no, no!" he thought, and pressed his anguish in upon himself.

Again and again he thought through the process of a typical poppy seed's life. It seemed unsatisfactory, unsatisfying, perhaps humiliating. Yet he somberly knew the rules; in the first stage of post descent, he would wait for a rain shower or for a sprinkler to be turned on, then he would be softening his own surface and sending out two sprouts; one at end of a stem, one at root. It was this kind of thing, just the thought of this sort of growth conformity, as I mentioned, that brought the seed such anguish.

He grumbled "Even after millions of years of my own species existence, here now I lie, incapable but to enact the same boring order without the least allowance for how I feel about it. On one hand I know I'm being difficult about this, but I must at some point take a stand and object to unquestioned tradition. I'm not going to fall into lock step with things simply because every other seed isn't willing to think for themselves. There is something I have to take on for myself, something I have to do for me. I shall express my own uniqueness!"

The self-aimed speech thus complete he entrenched himself firmly in his his frustration, however knowing that it was a unlikely that his wishes could be fulfilled. Queerly though, for those of us unfamiliar with certain causal principles, the seed's wish had already been answered.

You see, the robin was really a magic bird, and when it brushed the mother-plant the seeds were given the power of the knowledge tree. It was remembered that, shortly after the time that our little seed fell to earth and made known its harsh wishes, it had received a vision that showed that his mind had a power and could change his destiny. It occurred to him, that he could do whatever he wanted. He was so excited, he didn't even think about telling his brothers and sisters who laid dispersed through the surrounding locale, some of whom had the same concerns as him.

The realization brought excitement to our little seed, which in turn brought a rush of thought, and then,"Of being a plant, I have always loved the flower most of all," was heard aloud, even by the other seeds nearby, although seeds tend to speak rather quietly.

"Now that I know that I can have my wish, why should I have to grow a stem first, then the leaves and then finally a flower? I shall be the first poppy to begin in the way that I want! And that is to be a flower right now instead of having to entertain that long, ordinary and dull process of growing stem, a root-web and leaves first!"

So the seed, just as he intended for himself, went to flower in the power of his own wish. Unfortunately for him, though, the flower petals, being underground, became damp and began to rot. Bee nor human could see it's luster, nor could petal, pistol or stamen mature without sunlight.

Thereby, it could not be avoided that the seed-flower came to a premature end, incapable of life much less of progeny. And thus ends our story, except for one small thing.

Just after the next process of dissolution, the dissolving of the flowers elements into the dirt, and just before it's brownie spirit ascended into the Fifth Plant Spectrum, the seed as a soul went to receive what would be his official commiseration note (including his next life plan and what now might be perceived as a more dubious routing, fortunately with a decebt preparation litany, which helps) by securing his pass at the Second Kingdom Palace ticket counter of their local tangibility assumption arena (not unlike our nearby human one) and then proceeded through the Third Committee's Directional Adjudication Lectern where one may submit any special pleas, if applicable, before receiving final assignment. The seed-soul made no such plea, and submitting his forms found himself holding the very agenda for his his next mystic journey.

It was at this second that the seed-soul had what humans beings have called their last thought as a summation of a lifetime. It was,"I'm not going to do that again."