The Tale of a Papaya

A seed fell into the ground. And very soon, a shoot emerged. It was the most unlikely spot for a tree.  So when it was just a few weeks old, its tiny stem broke. I put it on a cast, albeit skeptical if it will survive.  But it did.  The little papaya grew.

Despite its uncertainty when it fell into the ground, the tiny life inside the seed emerged.  It was just the beginning of its arduous journey.  It grew on an unlikely spot where it was exposed to all sorts of inconvenience.  Nevertheless, it grew.  The tiny trunk which almost broke amazingly healed.  And as we dumped more dirt into it, the strong papaya continued to grow steadily towards the light.  Little by little, the faint papaya grew strong and sturdy. Its castigation continued.  It confronted many a storms, strong winds, and nonchalance.  But the meek papaya went on.

And then the flowers started to come..one by one by one.  The tiny buds clung to the trunk.  Determined not to fall, strong like their mother.  And after the many more rising and setting of the sun, those tiny little buds turned into baby papaya fruits.  The baby papaya fruits weren't perfect. Most of them are scarred in fact.  Seemingly to remind any beholder of the painstaking journey it took to come into being.

This is the tale of the Papaya (at our backyard).  It has been dumped.  It was broken.  And yet, despite its brokenness and haplessness it has emerged as a victorious, and beautiful tree.  It found its way out of the dirt that once hindered it from finding light.  And yet, it did not wallow at the heavy burden of that dirt nor succumbed to the atrocities of Mother Nature.

God must have been the one who nurtured it.  Perhaps to inspire me as well.  I was a tiny "insignificant seed" before.  I fell on the ground.  Rich and fertile perhaps.  But life's circumstances have twisted my frail spirit.  And giving up seemed like a more apt recourse.  But like this Papaya, I was not meant to be just another "dead tree."

I sought light and found my way through the dirt.  And yes, I grew and bore some fruit.  My life, like that papaya, is not in vain.

For many of us, we feel in the midst of atrocities, that giving up is the easier route to serenity.  But we weren't meant to be like that.  That one papaya seed which fell on the ground never expected it'd grow to bear these many fruits. But it did.  If it died, none of us could have known of its potential.

People come and go.  And its a pity how some lives just fade into nothingness without them realizing their full potentials.

I wish more people saw my Papaya and learn from its tale.  See it bloom and flourish.  And find inspiration from it.  The Ultimate Power that gave it life and brought out its bountiful fruits is the same Ultimate Source of our lives.  If He has blessed the life of this Papaya, helping it emerge through its difficulties, to give way to its fruits, establish its existence, and reaffirm its purpose, how much more for us, human beings whose image was made after His?  Now more than ever I am convinced, our lives aren't meant to be lived in vain.  Our worth is more than this Papaya.  And the tales of our lives are most certainly more beautiful and more meaningful that this.