THE ACORN IN THE GRASS
By
-Daniel-
©
Though we be apart,
we are but a heartbeat away.
I have come to share a Truth
upon this blessed day.
From out of the heavens fell the seed
containing the Tree of Life,
dropped from the raven's beak as he winged his
way across the Autumn sky.
Falling to earth and finding refuge in the grass,
did the acorn endure the bitter snows of Winter
before taking root in the fertileness that was Spring.
And as the acorn grew strong within the depths
of his Mother's care,
he sprouted forth a single skyward stem.
At first his growth went unnoticed within this vast
sea of grass and flowers for he was little and not
unlike his neighbors;
but soon the tiny acorn's stem became a trunk
that gave forth branches and leaves for all to see.
The grass began to protest his appearance,
demanding that he behave as every other blade
of grass;
and the flowers made fun of him,
shunning him for his ugliness and his inability
to produce the blooms of beauty.
This caused the tiny oak to become sad and lonely,
for he knew that he was somehow different but try
as he would, he could not be as the grass commanded,
and the kindness that he offered to others was
reflected back to him as only ridicule.
For a time the little tree was filled with anger and
the bitterness that ran through his veins caused his
branches to gnarl and knot.
But soon he grew past the tallest of grass,
allowing him to see Life more clearly than ever
before;
and he knew that it was his own thoughts that had
held him back from the greater heights of joy
and not the ways of ignorance,
embraced by the flowers and the grass.
With Forgiveness did he free himself,
for at last he understood that it was the level of
awareness that dictated the lives of all,
and with compassion did he resolve to become a silent
guardian to the grass and the flowers.
So it came to pass that the little acorn grew into a
mighty oak,
whose gigantic outstretched branches provided the
gentleness of shade to protect the grass and flowers
from withering under the intense light of the sun.
As the seasons passed, the grass grew taller and
greener and the flowers filled the air with a
sweeter fragrance.
Although the oak was able to plainly see the lives he
silently blessed,
the grass and flowers could now only feel the oak
tree's presence,
for the acorn had grown too large for them to
comprehend.
And it was in the autumn of the oak tree's three
hundredth year that he had grown tall enough
to see off into the distance,
a mighty brother that he had never known,
and the oak tree was amazed, for he had thought
that he existed all alone.
In disbelief did he seek counsel with the raven
nesting in his branches and asked him to verify that
the eyes did not deceive.
And the raven answered:
"Yes, it is your brother you see,
and your sister waves to you as well from the East.
Only now can you begin to understand that you
and your brother and your sister are naught but
the blades of grass, growing tall within the shadows
of yet another tree...
...thus eternally blooms the Tree of Life."