Once upon a time, there were three brothers who lived in a
cottage atop a hill with their mother and father. Their parents were gardeners,
and they grew all kinds of fruits, vegetables, and flowers. After watching their
parents grow all these wonderful plants, the boys wanted to grow something too.
So their parents gave each one of them a flower seed and told them how to grow them.
“Plant it in fertile ground where there is enough sun, water
it every day, except on rainy days, pray, and wait,” their parents told them.
Each brother found a fertile spot for their seeds and
planted them.
The first brother did what he was told on the first day, but
he didn’t water the flower or pray for it on the second or third day. When he
came back on the fourth day, he was disappointed that the flower had not grown.
“It isn’t growing,” he said. “Mom and Dad’s advice mustn’t be working.” He went
on to do other things and forgot about the flower seed.
The second brother watered and prayed for his flower every day
for three days. When the flower did not sprout on the fourth day, he was disappointed
and said, “This flower isn’t growing. What I’m doing must not be working for
this seed. Maybe the seed is bad.” He went on to do other things and decided he
would ask his parents for another seed.
The third brother watered the flower every day for three
days, and when the flower did not sprout, he was disappointed. “Why hasn’t it
grown yet?” he wondered. He kept watering it for three more days, but it still didn’t
sprout. Frustrated, the third boy asked, “God, why isn’t this flower growing?”
“It is growing,” God said. “It is taking root as we speak.
You just can’t see the roots growing from below the ground as I can. Keep doing
what your parents told you to do and wait. You will see.”
So the third brother did. He watered the seed every day (except
on the rainy days), prayed, and waited. When he checked the spot where he
planted the seed on the fourteenth day, he jumped with delight and praised God.
His flower had finally sprouted.
The first two brothers were surprised. Their parents’ advice
was working after all.
Three weeks later, the third brother’s sprout blossomed into
a beautiful golden flower, which the whole family admired. And the third brother
praised God all the more for it.
THE END
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