A boiled seed does not sprout

A boiled seed does not sprout

An aging king woke up one day to the realisation that should he drop dead, there would be no
male in the royal family to take his place. He was the last male in the royal family in a culture where only a male could succeed to the throne - and he was aging. He decided that if he could not give birth to a male, he would adopt a son who then could take his place but he insisted that such an adopted son must be extraordinary in every sense of the word. So he launched a competition in his kingdom, open to all boys, no matter what their background. Ten boys made it to the very top. There was little to separate these boys in terms of intelligence and physical attributes and capabilities. The king said to them, "I have one last test and whoever comes top will become my adopted son and heir to my throne." Then he said, "This kingdom depends solely on agriculture. So the king must know how to cultivate plants. So here is a seed of corn for each of you. Take it home and plant and nurture it for three weeks. At the end of three weeks, we shall see who has done the best job of cultivating the seed. That person will be my heir-apparent."

The boys took their seeds and hurried home. They each got a flower pot and planted the seed as soon as they got home. There was much excitement in the kingdom as the people waited with bated breath to see who was destined to be their next king. In one home, the boy and his parents were almost heartbroken when after days of intense care, the seed failed to sprout. He did not know what had gone wrong with his. He had selected the soil carefully, he had applied the right quantity and type of fertilizer, he had been very dutiful in watering it at the right intervals, he had even prayed over it day and night and yet his seed had turned out to be unproductive. Some of his friends advised him to go and buy a seed from the market and plant that. "After all," they said, "how can anyone tell one seed of corn from another?" But his parents who had always taught him the value of integrity reminded him that if the king wanted them to plant any corn, he would have asked them to go for their own seed. "If you take anything different from what the king gave you, that would be dishonesty. Maybe we are not destined for the throne. If so, let it be but don't be found to have deceived the king," they told him.

The d-day came and the boys returned to the palace each of them proudly exhibiting a very fine corn seedling. It was obvious that the other nine boys had had great success with their seeds. The king began making his way down the line of eager boys and asked each of them, "Is this what came out of the seed I gave you?" And each boy responded, "Yes, your majesty." And the king would nod and move down the line. The king finally got to the last boy in the line-up. The boy was shaking with fear. He knew that the king was going to have him thrown into prison for wasting his seed.

"What did you do with the seed I gave you?" the king asked.
"I planted it and cared for it diligently, your majesty, but alas it failed to sprout." the boy said tearfully as the crowd booed him. But the king raised his hands and signalled for silence. Then he said, "My people, behold your next king." The people were confused. "Why that one?" many asked. "How can he be the right choice?" The king took his place on his throne with the boy by his side and said, "I gave these boys boiled seeds. This test was not for cultivating corn. It was the test of character; a test of integrity. It was the ultimate test. If a king must have one quality, it must be that he should be above dishonesty. Only this boy passed the test. A boiled seed cannot sprout."

We live in a society that has become obsessed with success and many cheat to show success at
any cost. We say the end justifies the means. It is the tragedy of life. Many sacrifice their
integrity just so as to potray success to the outside world. Yet failure is not a disgrace at all if it
is failure with dignity intact, it is the stepping stone to success, and in our book of life it is written in pencil so that it can easily be erased and replaced with a success story. Failure with dinity
is divinely ordained. But many seek to circumvent divinely ordained failure by resorting to dubious means. When a civil servant builds a big house and sends his five children to expensive schools when he does not have a second source of income, is that not a case of a boiled seed sprouting? When a minister of state is able to sustain a lavish mistress and at the same time put up houses from his income as minister, is that not a case of a boiled seed coming to life? We should stop cheering rogues.

I believe that we have all been given lives to lead according to God's plan and if we are living faithfully, we should all have different results. For instance, I believe that not all marriages are meant to have children. I believe that some women would stand before God with their children and God would say, "That's strange. I did not give you and your husband children so how did you get these?" I believe that not every student should make it to the university. So, many would stand before God with their certificates and God would say, "Now that is strange. How did you get to the university when I closed the door to the university to you?"

Boiled seed does not sprout. Next time you see a successful person, find out what kind of seed he was given and ask him, "how come your boiled seed has sprouted?" if his success is due to unethical means.