Worried about the Seed

Jesus told people that they didn't have to worry. Pause for a moment and read Matthew 6:25-34. Jesus noticed that people spent a lot of time thinking and thinking and thinking about what they would wear tomorrow and what they would eat next week and other things like that. He told them it was good to think about those things, but we don't need to worry about them. What is worry? Why don't we need to worry? I once heard a story about a squirrel, and it helped me understand.

One day, as the legend goes, in Old Raven’s Forest there was a squirrel. This particular squirrel on this particular day was particularly hungry. So he planted a blueberry seed. He wiggled his tail, ready to feast on blueberries! There was just one problem… bushes grow slowly. And that made him worry.

As the squirrel stared at the ground, a badger trundled up. “Hey little squirrel,” said the badger happily. “We’re going to have a Feast! Want to join?”

The squirrel shook his head without even looking up. “No,” he said. “I have to get ready for my berry bush to grow.” The badger shrugged and trundled off and the squirrel got to thinking. Worried thinking. 

Don’t blueberries need water? Is it going to rain tomorrow? He didn’t know. He should probably water his blueberry bush. So he scampered off and carefully carried a leaf full of water and then gently poured some. Ah! He had a worried thought: what if it does rain tomorrow and then that’s too much water?! He scrapped the water that he just poured and dried the ground with is tail. That was a close one. Now it was dry.

Then the squirrel had another thought. Berry bushes need sun. I should make sure it’s sunny today because tomorrow might be cloudy. So he scampered up a tree and started to cut off branches that were blocking the sunlight from getting to the seed he planted. Ah! he had a worried thought. What if it’s too sunny tomorrow and then the seed doesn’t grow because it got too much sun today?! He scampered down the tree and then stood holding a large leaf over the blueberry seed so it stayed in the shade. Now it was dry and covered up.

Then the squirrel had another thought. Berry bushes need soil with nutrients: fertilizer! He remembered seeing some rich, dark soil near a compost pile by an old oak tree. So he scampered off and carefully gathered pawfuls of the nutrient-rich soil, sprinkling it gently around his blueberry seed. Ah! he had a worried thought. What if tomorrow a big wind comes and blows all this loose soil away, taking his seed with it?! He quickly scraped away all the new soil and patted the ground down flat and hard so nothing could possibly blow away.

There was the squirrel and there was his seed. The seed was dry, covered up, and in hard-packed soil. Basically the opposite of what seeds need to grow. All because of his worried thoughts about tomorrow.

The badger was back. He had a plate of blueberry muffins and he brought a mole with him. The badger sat down next to the squirrel and said, “you know, it’s hard to know what tomorrow is going to bring. But my friend Mary Mole knows all about growing bushes. She says that your seed needs water and sun and fertilizer today. Can she help?”

The squirrel looked at the badger and the muffins and the mole. And nodded. 

Well, that’s what the legend says, but I know one thing that’s true: Worrying about tomorrow can make a lot of things worse!