There was a man who had four sons. They were all different and he wanted his sons to learn not to judge things too quickly. So he sent them each on a quest, in turn, to go and look at a pear tree that was a great distance away.
The first son went in the winter, the second in the spring, the third in summer, and the youngest son in the fall.
When they had all gone and come back, he called them together to describe what they had seen.
The first son said that the tree was ugly, bent, and twisted. It looked dead. The harsh winter showed the bare bones existence of a difficult time, where little was nice & all around was cold & painful,
The second son said no it was covered with green buds and full of promise. The warmth of sunshine & new life was unfolding but the ground around was muddy & dirty. Some of the surrounding trees did not survive the harsh winter.
The third son disagreed; he said it was laden with blossoms that smelled so sweet and looked so beautiful, it was the most graceful thing he had ever seen, it was surrounded with beauty and there was a rich carpet of soft emeralds underneath the boughs. The dead trees around had been removed & just beauty was there.
The last son disagreed with all of them; he said it was ripe and drooping with fruit, full of life and fulfillment. There were people around enjoy the bounty.. So much bounty that some was rotting on the ground below giving off fermenting odors. The tree was giving to all who wanted but some of the leaves were already falling & brown. It seemed perhaps the tree was dying.
The man then explained to his sons that they were all right, because they had each seen but only one season in the tree's life.
He told them that you cannot judge a tree, or a person, by only one season/one event/one time, and that the essence of who they are and the pleasure, joy, and love that come from that life can only be measured at the end, when all the seasons are up.
If you give up when it's winter, you will miss the promise of your spring, the beauty of your summer, fulfillment of your fall.
resulting lessons:
Don't let the pain of one season destroy the joy of all the rest. Don’t let the pain of one event cloud the present joys available. Therefore don't judge life by one difficult season.
Persevere through the difficult patches and better times are sure to come some time or later. Don’t judge a person by some things that are out of your comfort zone.
Look at the whole picture of the person. See the spring, summer, fall and winter of this person to see them as God does. Respond to them as God does. Love them as God does.
Understand that the “tickling of your comfort zone” is God’s way of helping you grow as a person
In the year ahead look to yourself to have more patience, more compassion, more forgiveness, more joy, more godliness. Let your life be the tree of beauty, promise & bounty. The tree that will produce fruit.
The end of a day, the end of a year, the end of a life are all milestones & all can be measured. Try to see them each through the eyes of your creator and live them in a worthy manner.
Ecclesiastes 3 -- A Time for Everything
1 There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under heaven:
2 a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
3 a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
4 a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain,
6 a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
7 a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
8 a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.
Lamh Foistenach Abu!
