I heard a great story the other day I would like to share with you. A long time ago, a tiny acorn fell from the sky. He opened his eyes for the first time and descended towards the soft ground. Upon landing, he took survey of his home and became well adjusted to the group of acorns gathered around the mammoth oak tree.
This acorn was a beautiful breed. A rustic cap covered his head and his shell shone in the sunlight. He was quite snug and safe surrounded by many tiny saplings, dead leaves and friendly fellow acorns.
Time went on in his home but he soon discovered dangers that threatened his safety. The moisture from the rain always upset his warm dirt bed. To keep from sinking into the lonely ground, he would move himself away to another patch of ground. “One that is not trying to eat me alive!” he exclaimed. Also, a squirrel family would terrorize the community by dragging off acorns and bury them deep into the ground.
This handsome acorn decided once and for all that he would not yield to a destiny of being buried alive. He polished up his shell, straightened his cap and nestled himself in a bed of leaves to hide away from all the threats that promised to take him away from home. He hid under the mighty oak, neighbored by the saplings growing all around, a few acorn fellows and a blanket of oak leaves.
One day as he observed the mighty oak branches, and looking at the sunlight breaking through the branches and reflecting off of his shiny shell, he noticed a tiny crack in his beloved skin. Panic seized him. It seemed as if nothing in his life could stay the way he wanted it too and his beauty was facing extinction. He lay on his back, sobbing and lamenting the inevitable decline of his life. What would he clean if he didn’t have a shell? What is his purpose if not to reflect the sun? A squirrel would take him away, the ground would have its way and bury him. He brushed a tear from his eye and noticed something falling from the sky. It raced to the ground and landed near him with a gentle plop and bounced and then lay there quietly. He looked in wonder as the newly fallen acorn reflected the light of the sun off of its shiny shell. In wonder, he peered up at the tree branch and had a thought arise deep within him: I came from the mighty oak tree.
He glanced around at the soft dirt, moistened by the dew, the tiny acorns scattered closely to the base of the tree, the frail saplings shaded in the protective arms of the oak tree branches, the squirrels carrying off acorns to spread them all over the field, the birds perching in the branches of the oak and nesting their young, the farmer collecting wood from the oak to fuel the fire to feed his family and finally the acorn stared the gap crack in his perfect chest.
In that moment, he knew his place, his time, his purpose was to descend into the lonely and dark ground and become who he was meant to be – a mighty oak.
