A cactus stood all alone in the desert, wondering why it was stuck in the middle of nowhere.<\/p>\n
“I do nothing but stand here all day,” it sighed.\u00a0 “What use am I? I\u2019m the ugliest plant in the desert.\u00a0 My spines are thick and prickly, my leaves are rubbery and tough, my skin is thick and bumpy.\u00a0 I can\u2019t offer shade or juicy fruit to any passing traveler. I don\u2019t see that I\u2019m any use at all.”<\/p>\n
All it did was stand in the sun day after day, growing taller and fatter. Its spines grew longer and its leaves tougher, and it swelled here and there until it was lumpy and lopsided all over.\u00a0 It truly was strange- looking.<\/p>\n
“I wish I could do something useful,” it sighed.<\/p>\n
By day hawks circled high overhead.<\/p>\n
“What can I do with my life?” the cactus called.\u00a0 Whether they heard or not, the hawks sailed away.<\/p>\n
At night the moon floated into the sky and cast its pale glow on the desert floor.<\/p>\n
“What good can I do with my life?” the cactus called.\u00a0 The moon only stared coldly as it mounted its course.<\/p>\n
A lizard crawled by, leaving a little trail in the sand with its tail.<\/p>\n
“What worthy deed can I do?” the cactus called.<\/p>\n
“You?” the lizard laughed, pausing a moment.\u00a0 “Worthy deed?\u00a0 Why, you can\u2019t do anything!\u00a0 The hawks circle way overhead, tracing delicate patterns for us all to admire.\u00a0 The moon hangs high like a lantern at night, so we can see our ways home to our loved ones. Even I, the lowly lizard, have something to do.\u00a0 I decorate the sands with these beautiful brushstrokes as I pull my tail along. But you?\u00a0 You do nothing but get uglier every day.”<\/p>\n
And so it went on, year after year.\u00a0 At last the cactus grew old, and it knew its time was short.<\/p>\n
“Oh, Lord,” it cried out, “I\u2019ve wondered so long, and I\u2019ve tried so hard. Forgive me if I\u2019ve failed to find something worthy to do.\u00a0 I fear that now it\u2019s too late.”<\/p>\n
But just then the cactus felt a strange stirring and unfolding, and it knew a surge of joy that erased all despair.\u00a0 At its very tip, like a sudden crown, a glorious flower suddenly opened in bloom.<\/p>\n
Never had the desert known such a blossom.\u00a0 Its fragrance perfumed the air far and wide and brought happiness to all passing by.\u00a0 The butterflies paused to admire its beauty, and that night even the moon smiled when it rose to find such a treasure.<\/p>\n
The cactus heard a voice.<\/p>\n
“You have waited long,” the Lord said.\u00a0 “The heart that seeks to do good reflects My glory, and will always bring something worthwhile to the world, something in which all can rejoice – even if for only a moment.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A cactus stood all alone in the desert, wondering why it was stuck in the middle of nowhere. “I do nothing but stand here all day,” it sighed.\u00a0 “What use am I? I\u2019m the ugliest plant in the desert.\u00a0 My spines are thick and prickly, my leaves are rubbery and tough, my skin is thick […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-195","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-motivational","category-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/emcortes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/emcortes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/emcortes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emcortes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emcortes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=195"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/emcortes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":311,"href":"https:\/\/emcortes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195\/revisions\/311"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/emcortes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=195"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emcortes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=195"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emcortes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=195"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}