There was once a 6 month old baby who was having a good crawl around his garden at home when he came across an acorn on the ground.
“Hello”, he said, “and who might you be?”
“I am an acorn”, came the equally courteous reply.
The youngsters struck up a conversation without much inhibition, as they do. “So what do you want to be when you grow up?” inquired the curious baby.
“I am going to be a mighty oak tree”, the acorn responded in a heartbeat, “I will have a trunk that would take 3 men to hug, I will have branches that stretch out in most inspirational gestures, I will provide shading for the tired, allow lovers to make indelible declaration on my veneer, and bathe in moonlight while I create wonderings about the vastness of the Universe.”
I will be making silent connection with those I see come and go, whether they realise I have been of service to them I care not.
“That’s wonderful!”, cried the baby, and full of admiration and enthusiasm, the baby also made his declaration: “I am going to be a park attendant in a large and busy park”, continued the baby; “I am going to be the one making sure that the grass is well trimmed, the flowers well groomed and the facilities well kept.
I will be providing a place of rest for those tired of body, a place of tranquillity for those tired of mind, and a place of solace for those tired of spirit. I will be making silent connection with those I see come and go, whether they realise I have been of service to them I care not. For those who do notice me, I will help them realise that in the midst of today’s hustle and bustle, it is still OK to stop and mark the moment of Now with a smile.” The 2 friends exchanged a briefest moment of eternity, and went their separate ways.
It took a total of forty five years and a hundred and seven days before the acorn was able to catch the eyes of the baby again. The acorn, by now, was of course an oak, and the baby a man.
The friends’ recognition was unmistakable.
“Hey, it’s been a while my friend”, the man sighed as he exhaled, pondering on the fact that he has time to notice how the breath was made visible by the cold winter air. “Not for me”, parried the mighty oak with warmth and wisdom as he persisted, “I see you everyday, twice a day, very early in the morning and very late in the evening. But your gaze had always been but where you actually were, so how did you expect to see me? I had observed, nevertheless, that when you were within reach of my presence, your strides became shorter, slower, your gait less tiresome and your back straighter. So how have you been my dear friend?”
“Well, I was a partner in an established architect firm”, began the man, sounding somewhat contrived, “I so called designed and built high street shopping malls, car parks and affordable housing units”, his tone conspicuously deteriorating, “everyday I walked into a soulless office, pored over soulless pieces of diagrams, translating them into formidably soulless structures, just so the masses could enjoy sustaining their soulless lives.”
The wise old oak remained empathetically silent as he subtly encouraged the man to continue.
