ORANGE TREES

When I was 5 years old, my Father told me not to eat or swallow orange seeds.
Dad taught seeds will grow and take root inside my ‘tummy’ and I might grow up and become a tree.
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 Every time I peel an orange or take a bite. I always eat the seeds.

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 And ask, “Are my father’s predictions to come true?”

“Will branches filled with green leaves, sprout from my ears?”
“Will 8, 10, or 12, splendid, large, juicy oranges pop out of my eyes, nose, and mouth?”
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 I admit it! I have always had the secret desire to become a tree.

Sadly, in my mid 70’s, my chances are slim.
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 When we reflect on the brevity of our lives some believe that there are many talents that lie dormant within us since childhood.

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Our teachers know that much of what God has created remains hidden and unseen within a silent impulse, an inner urge, or a vague feeling.
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 Yes! Something is special in the eyes of that baby. Something is stirring in that child sitting beside you in the pew. Something is waiting to happen.

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The saints remind us that it would be a life of sin if we did not respond to these spiritual desires lurking deep within the soul.
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So much of who we are remains undiscovered. That is, unless someone takes interest in us, and brings our gifts into the light so that our talents can be developed.  

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Scriptures teach that we have been created to respond to the inner life so that we may fulfill the hope, light and the unique vision God has placed in each of us.

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God knows that a child’s hope lays in the development of their minds, heart and spirit.

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 Fathers, mothers, grandfathers, and grandmothers are given the watchful-eye, the gentile nudge, and the encouraging word that forms the inner vision asleep in a child.

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 Some ask, “What do you want to be when you grow up?”

Few ask, “Maybe. Just maybe there is 
…  A Great Orange Tree hidden inside my child’s imagination?”
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Peace and Only The Goodthings
deacon robert r. lackney, My 4^th Day Journal: February 2012/ Ephesians 1:17-19