Pass along email from Jack and Bea Burt:

The Emperor's Seeds

An emperor in the Far East was growing old and knew it was time to
choose His successor. Instead of choosing one of his assistants or
his children, he decided something different. He called young people
in the kingdom together one day.

He said, "It is time for me to step down and choose the next emperor.
I have decided to choose one of you." The kids were shocked! But the
emperor continued. "I am going to give each one of you a seed today,
one very special seed. I want you to plant the seed, water it and
come back here one year from today with what you have grown from
this one seed. I will then judge the plants that you bring, and the
one I choose will be the next emperor!"

One boy named Ling was there that day, and he, like the others,
received a seed. He went home and excitedly told his mother the
story. She helped him get a pot and planting soil, and he planted the
seed and watered it carefully. Every day he would water it and watch
to see if it had grown.

After about three weeks, some of the other youths began to talk about
their seeds and the plants that were beginning to grow. Ling kept
checking his seed, but nothing ever grew. Three weeks, 4 weeks, 5
weeks went by. Still nothing.

By now, others were talking about their plants but Ling didn't have a
plant, and he felt like a failure. Six months went by; still nothing
in Ling's pot.

He just knew he had killed his seed. Everyone else had trees and tall
plants, but he had nothing. Ling didn't say anything to his friends,
however. He just kept waiting for his seed to grow.

A year finally went by and all the youths of the kingdom brought
their plants to the emperor for inspection. Ling told his mother that
he wasn't going to take an empty pot,
but his Mother said he must be honest about what happened.

Ling felt sick to his stomach, but he knew his Mother was right. He
took his empty pot to the palace.

When Ling arrived, he was amazed at the variety of plants grown by
the other youths. They were beautiful - in all shapes and sizes. Ling
put his empty pot on the floor and many of the other kinds laughed at
him. A few felt sorry for him and said, "Hey nice try."

When the emperor arrived, he surveyed the room and greeted the young
people. Ling just tried to hide in the back. "My, what great plants,
trees and flowers you have grown," said the emperor. "Today, one of
you will be appointed the next emperor!"

All of a sudden, the emperor spotted Ling at the back of the room
with his empty pot. He ordered his guards to bring him to the front.
Ling was terrified. "The emperor knows I'm a failure! Maybe he will
have me killed!"

When Ling got to the front, the Emperor asked his name. "My name is
Ling," he replied. All the kids were laughing and making fun of him.
The emperor asked everyone to quiet down. He looked at Ling, a

nd then announced to the crowd, "Behold your new emperor! His name is Ling!"

Ling couldn't believe it. Ling couldn't even grow his seed. How could he be the new emperor?

Then the emperor said, "One year ago today, I gave everyone here a
seed. I told you to take the seed, plant it, water it and bring it
back to me today. But I gave you all boiled seeds, which would not
grow. All of you, except Ling, have brought me trees and plants and
flowers. When the rest of you found that the seed would not grow, you
substituted another seed for the one I gave you. Ling was the only
one with the courage and honesty to bring me a pot with my seed in
it. Therefore, he is the one who will be the new emperor!"

If you plant honesty, You shall reap trust.
If you plant goodness, You shall reap friends.
If you plant humility, You shall reap greatness.
If you plant perseverance, You shall reap victory.
If you plant consideration, You shall reap harmony.
If you plant hard work, You shall reap success.
If you plant forgiveness, You shall reap reconciliation.
If you plant openness, You shall reap intimacy.
If you plant patience, You shall reap improvements.
If you plant faith, You shall reap miracles

But...
If you plant dishonesty, You shall reap distrust.
If you plant selfishness, You shall reap loneliness
If you plant pride, You shall reap destruction.
If you plant envy, You shall reap trouble.
If you plant laziness, You shall reap stagnation.
If you plant bitterness, You shall reap isolation.
If you plant greed, You shall reap loss.
If you plant gossip, You shall reap enemies.
If you plant worries, You shall reap wrinkles.
If you plant sin, You shall reap guilt.