They Tried to Bury Me, But They Didn’t Know I Was a Seed

They Tried to Bury Me, But They Didn’t Know I Was a Seed

by Kateb Nuri-Alim Shunnar

You ever been hit with betrayal so hard it knocks the breath clean outta you? I have. More than once.

And funny thing it didn’t come from enemies, either. Naw, it came from folks I loved... folks I helped.

The ones I opened my door for, pulled up a chair for, broke bread with.

You know what my Grandma used to say, sitting there with flour on her hands and a look that could see right through you?

"Baby, sometimes the dirt they throw on you ain't to kill you it's to cover you 'til you’re ready to bloom.”

I didn’t get it back then. I was just a boy, watching her knead dough and hum gospel under her breath. But life? Life made sure I understood.

There was a season in my life where it felt like everybody I counted on went ghost.

Phone stopped ringing. Smiles got tight.

Folks were dragging my name through the mud like it was Sunday laundry.

And at first? It crushed me.

I couldn’t figure out what I did wrong. I kept asking myself, “How could they?”

But after all the crying, and all the silent prayers whispered into a pillow wet with tears, something clicked:

They didn’t know I was a seed.

See, sabotage ain’t always a curse. Sometimes, it’s a setup for something bigger.

Grandma’s voice would float back to me in those quiet, broken moments:

"Don’t let folks who didn’t sow a single thing in you tell you what your harvest’s supposed to look like. Stand firm, sugar. Storms’ll come, but you ain't a twig. You’re a tree.”

And Lord knows, she was right.

I learned to stop defending myself to people who already made up their minds.

I quit trying to prove my worth to folks too blind to see it.

Instead, I stood. Quiet. Rooted. Unmoved.

I realized real strength don’t always roar. Sometimes it just refuses to fall.

Lemme tell you a little story a parable, if you will:

There was a farmer who had two fields.

One he showed off to the whole town shiny tractors, white picket fence, all of it. Folks oohed and aahed over it.

The other field? He tended it in secret. No one saw him sweat over it, or pray over it, or fight off the crows at midnight.

The flashy field grew fast... but shallow.

First hard rain came, and it washed away like dust.

But that quiet field? The one nobody cared about?

When the storms rolled through, it stood strong deep roots clutching the earth like a promise.

Sometimes what grows slow grows strong.

And sometimes what grows in secret saves your life.

That’s what sabotage taught me.

That not every attack is meant to destroy you.

Some attacks are heaven’s way of pruning you, strengthening you, stretching your roots deep into the soul of who you really are.

And now, if you don’t mind, here’s a song from the corner of my spirit the kind you hum when the tears come faster than the words:

I Still Stand

(soul-song from the heart)

You tried to bury me under your lies,

But my roots dug deep, reached for the skies.

You threw your stones, you cast your blame,

But here I am, still callin' His name.

Still I stand, with my face to the sun,

Still I rise, though the battles ain’t done.

You counted me out, but God counted me in,

And I'll keep standin' strong 'til the very end.

You whispered low, you laughed out loud,

But I ain’t built to bow to the crowd.

Your storm came fast, but it passed me by,

I found my wings when you hoped I'd die.

Sabotage cuts deep, but it also clears out the dead weight.

It forces you to see who's really with you... and who was just hanging around for the good times.

It makes you lean into the Only One who never switches up never folds on you when the rain starts fallin’.

My grandmother, bless her soul, would rock back in her chair, sip her tea, and say with a smirk,

"Everybody who smiles at you ain’t your friend, baby. But every storm that hits you ain’t your enemy, neither."

And these days? I get it.

If you're standing in the ashes of sabotage right now good.

Stand there.

Let it refine you.

Let it toughen you up in the best way.

Let it teach you how to root yourself so deep in faith, in purpose, in love... that no gossip, no scheme, no setback can yank you up.

You’re not defeated.

You’re not destroyed.

You’re just getting started.

They tried to bury you.

But they didn't know... you were a seed.

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