Thrive

In the way that our good Lord intended, there is a way that plants grow. A combination of factors. There’s seed, soil, water, oxygen, nutrients. The deadening of the seed, the sprout of the leaves, the bloom of a flower. And if left unperturbed, the appearance of a fruit. Hydroponic farming might attempt to argue against this process. But the argument cannot be sustained for all plants. The argument will eventually reach a dead end because without these necessary factors, there is no plant growth.

In that same way, the good Lord intended you for me. Shared faith, values and attraction. We both believe in the One that was crucified and resurrected, the way we both agree on how our worlds work, the way that I like your face, and the way that you like my eyes. There’s the way that your hands fit in mine, how we both hate ripped jeans to the same degree, how we both agree that Emmanuel Iduma is so painfully underrated, and what we would do to end world hunger. There’s the other impending element in the middle of this. Yet in spite of it, the leaves have sprouted. The flower has bloomed. For this good thing we have grown, we make the sacrifice and we toil for it to continue to bloom.

I really am intended for you even though your parents may argue otherwise. Something about ‘67 -’70. How your uncles never returned, how my uncles were involved. How your aunties never recovered from the things that happened to them, how my aunties are now still involved. They argue with you, they complain. You respectfully listen, but we do not budge. The flowers still bloom. Other plants may have died because of this. But we are insistent that ours will continue to grow. And that hopefully, one day, it bear fruit.

We really were intended for each other. Were it not so, the good Lord would not have let us meet, even with these weeds and elements that existed before us. I wouldn’t have held your hand as you persevered and dreamed and wrote your novel. You wouldn’t have held mine as I wept for my murdered mother. We wouldn’t have burned for each other, we wouldn’t have hoped together. As our plant grew, so did the weeds. Eventually, because of them, our flowers stopped blooming and our fruit never came.

I still believe that we were intended for each other. Are intended for each other. You may indeed thrive with him. Without seed, without soil. Without sacrifice, without toil. You may even bear fruit with him and the fruit may be good. But the truth remains the same, that we were to thrive. For our seed to be dead, our leaves to sprout, our flowers to bloom and our fruit to be borne. We are intended for each other. Were it not so, the good Lord would not have made it be.¹

1. This piece is in no way, an argument against the wonder that is hydroponic farming, or the future of agriculture. I am forever in awe of the leaps and bounds occasioned by scientific discoveries. I just unfortunately, cannot let a good metaphor go. That one is my own personal issue. That being said, please enjoy the story and the foods grown in these atypical methods. Gratefully, the two are not mutually exclusive :)