A sorrowful man came to the prophet
and said, "I am the Father of a wayward son who has broken his faithful
Mother's heart that her tears dry not up and she cannot be comforted.
What wisdom can we know to endure our grief?" The prophet perceived the
man was good and said, "Hear the parable of the seeds.
"The Lord gave unto his servants seed to
plant in his fields. Each received according to the will and wisdom of
the Lord. `What manner of seeds are these?' asked the servants. `That is
not for you to know at this time, but I know what kinds of seeds they are.
Plant them, water them, fertilize them, weed them and protect them from
predators, and you will discover for yourselves what kinds of seeds these
are.'
"The faithful servants went forth and planted
the seeds, and began to tend the fields according to their desires and
skills. They labored diligently and brought forth beautiful vegetables
and flowers, but to their great disappointment there were certain weeds
and thorny plants that sprang up and tormented their hearts. These
servants cried unto the Lord, `However faithfully we labor, we cannot get
the thorny plants to produce good fruit. Why have you given us noxious
weeds and thorny bushes amongst our fruitful plants, to take away our joy?'
"And the Lord answered, `This is wisdom
in me. Tend to them and labor with them, for it is not the same season
for all seed, and in their maturity some thorny bushes produce a blossom
of the most desirable fragrance and delicious fruit, notwithstanding the
bitter season. Call no seed evil, for I, the Lord of the fields,
have judged all my seed worthy of life. Do not be downcast, for power is
not given you to change the nature of any seed. You did not create the
seed. You are only able to help the seed become what it is!'
"The unfaithful servants planted their
seeds. They did not water well, but the Lord rained upon the land
and the seeds sprouted and survived. The unfaithful servants did not fertilize,
but the Lord provided sufficient nourishment from the earth. Nor did the
unfaithful servants weed their fields, so that weeds grew up in great abundance
and tried to choke out the good seeds. The good seeds were much afflicted
because of the neglect of the unfaithful servants; but they struggled and
survived, and even in the fields of the unfaithful servants nature prevailed!
Vegetable seed became vegetable; the fruit seed sprouted and bore fruit,
each after its kind; and the seed of the thorny bushes and noxious weeds
sprouted, each after its kind. And some of the thorny bushes, in time,
bore delicious fruit even as the Lord had said.
"Then in the harvest the faithful servants
were blessed, and honored, and had great joy; but the unfaithful servants
received no more seed, forever!"
by James J. Jones ("Let's Fix The
Kids!")
To read or copy James's 8 Devastating
Parent Traps (PDF) go to http://ce.byu.edu/ed/edweek/handouts/2006/16.pdf
