LamideAdenuga: Four Seasons of a Tree

I read a story, a story that has so much blessed my heart, and as I tell it to you, I do hope you will find some meaning in it.

There was a man who had four sons, and he wanted his sons to learn not to judge things too quickly. So he sent them each on a quest, they took turns, from the first to the youngest, to go and look at a pear tree that was a great distance away.

The first son went in the winter, the second son went in the spring, the third son in the summer, and the youngest son in the fall.

After they had each gone and returned, he called them together and asked them to describe what it is they had seen… The first son who went in the winter said that the tree was ugly, bent, and twisted. The second son said; “no, it was covered with green buds and full of promise”. The third son disagreed and 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. The youngest son disagreed with all of them, he said it was ripe and drooping with fruit, full of life and fulfillment.

The man then explained to his sons that they were all right because they had each seen only but one season in the tree’s life. He told them that you cannot judge a tree or a person by only one season, the essence of who they really are can only be measured at the end.

Dear friend, that is what life is all about, don’t let the opinion of other people about you be a statement of finality. Because truth is if you give up when it’s winter, you will miss the promise of your spring, the beauty of your summer and the fulfillment of fall.

So please do not let the pain of one season destroy the joy of the remaining. Don’t judge life by one difficult season. Persevere through the difficulties for it is just but one season in your life. If you can make it through the night, there’s a brighter day.