Hi there,
It's LisaJ.
Thanks for joining me.
You know,
I never know where these little stories are going to go.
But if you're here,
I think you're meant to be here.
So let's settle in,
And I want to tell you about the lemon tree that is on my terrace.
Here in the Pyrenees,
I find it very odd that lemon trees can grow and thrive.
I think of them more as a tropical fruit plant.
But yet,
Here in the snowy Pyrenees,
Lots of sunshine,
And they do quite well.
And the one on my terrace,
In its pot,
Is doing great.
And it's my friend.
I go upstairs every morning,
And I greet it with the name I've given it,
Which is not creative.
I say,
Good morning lemon tree.
And I think it knows that I am its human,
As much as I cherish it as my tree.
And a few weeks ago,
It gave me my first lemon,
Which I gently picked off its branch,
And brought downstairs,
And eagerly sliced open to squeeze out some juice.
But in doing so,
A seed popped right out,
Right onto the counter.
And I looked at it,
And I thought,
Oh,
Lemon tree,
You've given me another lemon tree.
I went to my cabinet in my kitchen,
Where I keep jars.
Are you one of those jar keepers?
Empty jars?
Especially if they're cute.
And I have a few tiny jars that are really pretty,
That at one point held marmalade and jellies.
So it became the new cradle for this little lemon seed.
I put some soil in the jar,
And I took that seed,
And I planted it as deeply as you could go,
In such a little space,
And gave it a few drops of water.
And then,
As the Bhagavad Gita tells us,
You plant your seed deeply,
And then you let it go.
Don't dig around later,
Trying to see how it's doing.
Just trust in the life process.
Lesson from a lemon tree.
But,
Here's something else that happened.
A few days later,
After planting that lemon seed,
I happened to be grinding up some cardamom to make tea.
And I took one of those ungrounded seeds,
And I planted it in the same little jar,
Next to the lemon seed.
A couple weeks go by.
I give it some water here and there,
But I don't disturb it,
And I don't worry about it.
And this morning,
When I walked into the kitchen,
And I peeked at the window where that little jar is sitting,
There was a sprout.
A beautiful,
Thin,
Green sprout.
One of those seeds made a bold move,
And said,
You know what?
I'm going to trust,
And see what else is out there in the world.
And here it is.
However,
I don't know whether it's a lemon tree,
Or a cardamom plant,
Because when they start out in the world,
They look exactly the same.
Tender,
Hopeful,
Beautiful,
And ready for what is to come.
Like all of us,
This is how we start out.
And we either grow into a lemon tree,
Or we grow into a cardamom plant,
Or perhaps,
Stay with me,
That little seed is neither.
It might just have been a stealthful little straggler that happened to be in the soil,
And is taking this opportunity,
And running with it.
I hope you have a beautiful day.
I hope you grow with strength,
And trust,
And love for what's coming next in your life.
I'll see you next time.
