A little girl was enjoying the beauty
of the garden in her home. Her father had a good collection of rare and exotic
plants. He grew them with tender care. The girl was fascinated by a plant full
of fine and fragrant flowers. She went near the plant and enjoyed its beauty
and the fragrance of its fine flowers. Suddenly she noted that the plant was
growing in a heap of filth. She could not tolerate the presence of dirt at the
bottom of the plant with such fantastic flowers. She conceived a plan to clean
the plant.
She pulled the plant with
all her might and uprooted it. She then carried it to the tap and washed the shoot
and roots in running tap-water till all traces of dirt were washed away. She
then placed the plant on a clean stone and went away, thinking that she had
done a great deed indeed. Later her father came to the garden and saw the uprooted
plant. Its flowers and leaves had wilted and the plant had almost died in the
scorching sun. His little daughter ran to him to exhibit her achievement. “I
have cleaned it, Daddy”, she reported innocently. “It was placed in dirty soil.
Now it is clean.”
The father showed her how
her treatment had almost killed the plant. He told her that he had collected
the filthy soil and placed it to cover the plant’s roots as it was the best
medium to grow that plant. It could grow up healthily and produce fine flowers
only if grown in filthy soil. She was sad that the plant had suffered and withered
by her cleaning.
Pain, poverty and illness
may cause agony in our life. Sight of successful persons may make us depressed
and envious. A great gardener mixes the right soil for each plant. In the same
way God provides each of us with the best environment required for optimum growth and performance. But it may appear to
be unpleasant to us and we may even complain to God about our plight. There is
a famous poem in the Malayalam language
about the lasting love of God, our loving Father:
"My father will never
offer
Anything that is harmful I’m
sure.
He may give me moments of
pain
Still He loves me beyond
measure!”
These are the spontaneous words of a great poet
when he witnessed the unexpected demise of his beloved son.
God has plans to bring
us prosperity and not disaster, plans to bring about the future we hope for.
........................................................................................................
© By Dr. Babu Philip,
Professor, Cochin University of Science & Technology, Fine Arts Avenue,
Kochi-682016, Kerala, India, Prof. Mrs. Rajamma Babu,
Former Professor, St. Dominic's College, Kanjirappally and Leo. S. John,
Maniparambil, Ooriyakunnath, Kunnumbhagom, Kanjirappally, Kottayam-686507,
Kerala, India.
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