Girlfriend Therapy Ministry

One Man’s Trash is Another Man’s Treasure

I am a 30-year professional, and this is the first time in my career that I have been a part of a company that has been acquired. What began as something exciting quickly turned into something that caused me great insecurity and anxiety. It was clear that the ten plus years that I had given to my former company was now obsolete and of very little interest to the “new company” and its leadership. Initially, I was dedicated to trying to make my worth known and trying to get the new leadership to recognize my value. But that was exhausting and only added to my insecurity.

One man’s treasure is another man’s junk, is another man’s treasure, if he is lucky enough to recognize its value. It is true that when people inherit something they tend to disregard its value. It is recorded that many people have found great treasures in thrift stores. For example, in a thrift shop in Sydney, Australia a man purchased a Chinese cup in the shape of a flower for $4. The cup ended up being a 17th century piece made of rhinoceros horn, and eventually sold for $75,640. Likewise, in England, a cracked wooden pot was spotted sitting near a bag of household items that had been donated to a hospice charity shop. An employee opted to rescue the pot, only to discover that it was meant for calligraphy brushes and was carved between 1622 and 1722 by celebrated Chinese artist Gu Jie. The pot was purchased by a Hong Kong collector for $470,000.

It seems, much like things; the value of people can be lost in translation and transactions. However, the reality is that things of value don’t lose its value because someone is not able to perceive it. The $4 teacup was just as valuable sitting on the shelf of the thrift store as it was sitting in the museum. The cracked pot was just as valuable sitting on the shelf of the hospice shop as it was sitting among the other collector items. My 30 years of professional experience is still of great value, and I am just as valuable today as I was yesterday, even more so because I have yet to witness the fullness and greatness of my value. So with that, I will continue to persevere and perceive my great value.

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The day was beautiful and clear. The sun was shining, the sky was blue and there was a gentle breeze blowing for all to enjoy. Peach Tree worked diligently at her tasks shedding and pollenating, germinating and producing but she couldn’t help but notice all of the activity taking place on a nearby Apple Tree. There was always so much activity going on over there.  Birds chirping and bees buzzing busily about. She watched them as they landed and plucked at Apple Trees fruit.

“Hmmm” Peach Tree wondered, “what is all of that activity? They sure look busy over there.” She marveled as Apple Tree flipped and danced with a sign that read. “Help Wanted looking for pollinators to help me pollinate.” Peach Tree continued with her work shedding and pollenating, germinating and producing. She took a deep breath and enjoyed the aroma of her sweet fruit. She gave herself the once over and smiled at how beautiful she was. Her fruit was growing beautifully and it was plenteous.

As Peach Tree continued with her work shedding and pollenating, germinating and producing a bird came by and sat on a perch. “Well good morning little bird.” Peach Tree gleamed.

“Good morning.” The bird chimed then began to pick at himself in grooming.

“So I notice that when you are visiting the other trees over there, Apple, Plum, Blackberries, and Plum even, you pick at their fruit but when you come over here to my tree you only take time to groom. You never eat my fruit. Is my fruit not sweet enough for you?” Peach Tree asked feeling a bit insecure.

The bird bent over and took a nibble of the fruit. “No your fruit is very sweet. Just as sweet as the others but I don’t eat their fruit for nourishment only. I work for the other trees. My job is to carry pollen from one tree to the other. Eating of their fruit is merely payment for my work.”

Peach Tree was a little confused, “They share pollen?”

“Why of course.” The bird responded absolutely.

“Well, why isn’t anyone working for me?” Peach Tree asked.

“Because you don’t need our help. You are what we call a self-pollinating tree.”

“Self-pollenating? What does that mean?”

“Exactly as it sounds – you pollenate yourself.” The bird replied as if it should have been obvious. “You see the work that you are doing almost effortlessly; it’s like second nature to you. You’re shedding and pollenating, germinating and producing without even breaking a sweat.” Peach Tree looked and the bird was correct she was working efficiently even as she talked to the bird her work continued. It was routine and steady. Her process just worked all on its own. “The other trees you mentioned are cross-pollenating trees which means they share pollen. They are dependent on pollinators like myself and the bees, the wind and the rain to transfer pollen from the anther of one flower to the stigma of another.”

“What if I wanted to hire you to transfer the pollen from my anther to my stigma or the stigma of another?” Peach Tree stammered. Now it was time for the bird to look confused.

“You could hire me and I would gladly eat your fruit for payment, but” the bird paused, “why would you want to? Don’t you see,” he pointed at Peach Tree’s process, “you are designed to do your own work. The process is complete in you.” They both watched as the shed pollen fell directly from itself back onto itself. Peach Tree gave herself a closer look over. She noticed that there was a lot of activity happening within her as well. She wasn’t necessarily producing as much fruit as the other trees but her fruit was authentically hers. It was more consistent and uniformed, perfect even. She took a deep breath and breathed in the sweet aroma of her fruit and she closed her eyes and enjoyed the tranquility of her process. She looked over at the bird who had finished his grooming and she smiled.

“So,” the bird asked eagerly, “do you still want to hire me to carry your pollen?”

Peach Tree laughed, “No. I think I got it.” She smiled and watched her process as she continued to shed, pollenate, germinate, and produce effortlessly.

Young Ravi looked out at his neighbors as they each went about their work. He loved his little community and his community loved him. He wished that he could show his gratitude by giving his neighbors a gift. He looked around, but the only thing he had was one shiny red apple. He wondered how he could make this one apple enough to share with his 20 neighbors. So, he grabbed a sharp knife, sat down, and sliced his apple into twenty-one small thin slices. Enough to feed his 20 neighbors and one for himself.

As he sliced his apple, he noticed that there were exactly twenty-one seeds in the apple. “Wow!” He thought, “I can sow a seed one for every neighbor.” And so, he started to sow, one hole, one seed, one cup of water. One whole, one seed, one cup of water. He continued to plant each seed excited about the harvest that he would produce and excited that he would be able to bless his neighbors with and apple instead of a slice of an apple. “Oh, how happy they will be to receive their apple!” He exclaimed. He imagined that some would eat their apple right off the core, while others might cut their apple in slices and make a special treat. Some might make a refreshing drink of cold or hot apple cider. So, he finished planting his seeds and anxiously awaited the harvest.

When the day came Ravi was amazed to see that not only were there enough apples in his vineyard to give each neighbor their own, there were enough apples to give one to everyone in his community. He gathered his apples and went from home to home blessing his neighbors and his community from his harvest. When he had finished, he smiled with gratitude for the wonderful blessing that he was able to share. It was greater than he had imagined. As he sat down to enjoy his own apple, he had a grand realization, “if” he thought “I plant more seeds, then I can produce more apples! And,” he continued, “if everyone in the community would plant their seeds…then we could harvest enough apples to feed the city, and the city could harvest enough apples to feed the state, and the state enough to feed the nation, and the nation could feed the world!”

Ravi jumped from his table and ran to each neighbor to share with them him vision and collect their apple seeds. So excited were they neighbors that they wanted to help Ravi collect the seeds and help him plant the seeds. After all the gathering was complete, the neighbors sat side by side and began to sow their seeds. One hole, one seed, one cup of water. One hole, one seed, one cup of water.

I am a communicator by nature. My strength is found in my ability to communicate- to make known my thoughts on a matter. 

Launching a podcast offers me another channel to spread the message of faith. If you haven’t subscribed to the Girlfriend Therapy podcast already please subscribe. I will be posting new messages in the days ahead. 

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Blessings,

Kwanza