sjsprWriting

      I ate a peach today.

      Peaches are a very peculiar fruit. They are soft and fuzzy on the outside. When you bite into them, they can be super sweet or mildly sour, but either way they are always juicy. At their core, a strong, sturdy "pepa" gives testament to the glorious flesh that once stood attached to it.

      People should be like peaches.

      People tend to put a harsh, inedible skin that makes it difficult for others to socialize with. When it's difficult for others to get to know you, it's hard to make friends. And when your outer shell is a false representation of who you are inside, you're living a lie that will come crashing down on you.

     But the shell isn't something particularly bad. People can have inedible shells, but with a little work, others can reach into the flesh and find the sweetest, most delicious fruit inside.

      And the shell isn't the most important part, either: the seed is. The seed is your mark, it's what you leave behind. It is the legacy by which your friends, family, and even strangers, will remember you by. When all is stripped away from you, the seed should represent you, what you stand for, what you live for, and what you are as a human being.

      Most people allow their seed to be worldly things. Money. Drugs. Sex. They live their lives with a goal to acquire as much of these things as they can. But these things have little value and cannot be taken with you. These things are like the seeds of kiwis and strawberries: easily lost and forgotten. These seeds will be eaten with no remorse, no pity. The whole fruit will be eaten and nothing will be left behind to be remembered.

      Therefore, I say, be more like peaches. Let your seed be as big as it can be. Stand for what is right, for what is true. When a seed is pure and good, the whole fruit will grow beautifully. When a person's core values are pure, his actions are righteous. This is the kind of person I want to be, and so I let God be my seed. As the core of my life, I live by him and for him. And my reward is much greater than money or a "good high".

      And it won't matter if people eat me. Heck, it won't even matter if iguanas or rats eat me. Because I am a peach, and no one eats the seed.

SOHN - Artifice

J. Cole - Intro