From a seed to a bed (January 2010)

After complying our Sunday obligation, Judy and I proceeded to the farm before lunch.  We were in a hurry for the agreed time of loading the copra for the following day’s delivery to Alpha Oil Mill in Subangdaku, Mandaue City.  We were frustrated when the truck did not arrive.  The driver could not be contacted after several attempts and we wondered what happened.  We decided to see him personally.

Early morning (January 11, 2010), we drove to Brgy. Canhabagat, Medellin, Cebu.  Instead of feeling angry for the non-appearance, we took it as an adventurous and joyful ride locating the place.  And there was the driver with his truck as if there was no previous agreement between him and Judy’s cousin.  There was miscommunication.

We agreed on the terms of cargo delivery.   I realized it was more economical and less risky hiring his truck than doing it myself using our ISUZU Elf estimated to take me four (4) trips.

We were happy to discover that the truck owner is also into the fabrication of wooden furniture.  Attracted to the fine finish of their beds, we ordered one utilizing our own lumber from the Gmelina tree cut by chain-sawing the log to desired sizes six (6) months earlier.  In less than a week, they delivered the finished product.  What a soothing relief to commune with nature!  When I first slept on the bed from a seed planted for over two (2) decades, I felt gratified, accomplished and one with God’s creation.  I had a different feeling when we cut several trees for lumber used as floor joist of the copra dryer.  The dryer was rebuilt after it was accidentally burned when used by Judy’s cousin and nephew last May 2005.

This experience of realizing a thing after many years contradicts with today’s ‘age of instants’ with the rise of instant products.   When I was still a young boy, I usually heard negative comments that I would not be able to harvest the fruits of the trees I planted in our backyard.  I have proven them wrong because I am always given the opportunity to harvest what I have sown.  In my life, it can be literal or metaphorical.  Jesus said, “This is how it is with the Kingdom of God; it is as if a man was to scatter seed on the land and would sleep and rise night and day and the seed would sprout and grow, he knows not how” (Mk 4:26-27).

Indeed, in 1987 I purchased a half-full sack of Gmelina seeds gathered by my laborers and their children at the forestry area in ViSCA, Baybay, Leyte.  I sowed the seeds in furrows like planting corn in the hilly and very infertile portions of my in-laws’ farm.  That forested piece of land was deducted from the total land area to qualify for exemption and clearance from the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR  7).

In whatever undertaking or goals we have whether long or short term, “let us not grow tired of doing good for in due time we shall reap our harvest” (Gal 6:9).  nmg