Parable
07-31-2008
Once upon a time where land was plentiful and did not belong to anyone; a farmer and his wife were searching for a plot of land. A place where they could live the rest of their days in peace. They came across some land that looked good for them. This land was all green meadow, some small hills. As they were surveying they came across a river running through their prospective land. This was a small river larger than a creek, but enough water to grow a small crop to support themselves for the rest of their days. They decided to symbolize their good fortune and love for one another by planting two trees next to the river. This way the trees would grow tall and strong and when they were old they would remember the day of planting them. This was good land because it was peaceful with no high winds or other elements that would torment them or the crop. All they had was two mulberry seeds which they planted.
As time passed this couple did grow older. The trees grew bigger and stronger than they could have expected. In the couples last years the land was changing. Violent storms came with the high winds and rain. It ruined their crop which sustained them. But the tress they planted weathered the storms and stood straight after the storms passed. The couple was reminded the first days they came and planted those mulberry seeds. Looking back how nice it has been up till now. They were happy because they saw the trees standing straight and tall and seeing the trees surviving the storms that had come.
Another couple went searching for a plot of land to claim. They found a land that had lots of rolling hills. This they liked. This land had no river, but plenty of rain falls. This land had frequent whirlwinds all the time, and the couple saw no threat to their welfare. These whirlwinds were small and wouldn’t bring a house down. Besides, the couple loved the rolling hills. This couple heard about the first couple’s trees and what they symbolized. They had more seeds than the first couple so they decided to plant more trees. Some on the hill tops and some in the valleys. They too grew older living the rest of their days together. The trees grew differently though. The trees on the hill tops grew quite straight. Some slightly bent from the wind. The trees in the valley were all twisted, not pleasing to the eye. You see, the whirlwinds were prominent in the valleys. As the trees grew older the winds twisted their trunks every which way. On some of them the branches broke off because the trunks could not support the branches. The couple kind of shared a vicarious relief. They were happy that the straight trees on the hill tops were seen by other people passing by, but the twisted trees in the valleys were seldom seen by others. The hills hid the ugly and broken trees.
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Another couple found land something like grasslands. As far as the eye could see no hills and no rivers. Just lots of grass. This couple too symbolized their claim. They planted two mulberries as well. They gave each tree some distance apart and space between. When people would come to visit this couple and come upon their land they would see the two tall and healthy trees in the distance. The visitors would know they were close to the couple’s home.
There was this old man. He traveled to all these lands and passed through. This man was very proud and loved to boost of his accomplishments all the time. One thing he had trouble boosting about was some land and trees. He wanted to symbolize as the other couples have. This man got envious of the others he talked to. So he thought to himself “I will show these other people how I can symbolize better and do something they haven’t done. To prove to them I can do it!” This man only had one seed he had picked up in his travels throughout. So he went out to do better than the others with what he had. He traveled to and fro. One day he walked into a land that was raining tremendously, a down pour. Here he said to himself “Look how much it is raining. If there is this much water surely my one and only seed will sprout and grow big and strong. I can then tell others I have done like them, but better. And with this much rain my tree will grow taller and stronger than the others.” So he dug a very deep hole so the rain would not wash away the seed and the trees root would be deep. He covered the hole with soil. That same day the man went off to all the people he knew and told them the great land he had claimed and the great tree he too has growing on it. Time passed and the man brought others by to show them. But when he came back to his claim he found the land to be very dry and dusty. No vegetation to speak of. It was a desert. There by itself was a thin tree, almost wilted, starving of thirst in a dry and arid land. This man told his first guest “This is not right. I must have made a wrong turn somewhere. This is not my claim or my tree. Come with me and I will find it to show you. I think it is over there”. He did this with all the other people. What he finally realized and accepted was that his tree was planted in a desert. The day he planted his one and only seed it rained so hard he couldn’t see the land around him.
By Steve Janke