Monday, March 27, 2006

Lessons on Life

There was a man who had four sons. 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. The second son said no it was covered with green buds and full of promise.

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.

The last 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 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, 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.


Moral:

Don't let the pain of one season destroy the joy of all the rest.

Don't judge life by one difficult season.

Persevere through the difficult patches
and better times are sure to come.

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

Great moral and so true. It reminds me of the one about the blind men feeling different parts of an elephant and all coming up with diffrerent descriptions.

I'm here via michele's! So many ways to find Kenju!

Anonymous said...

Words to live by, to be sure.

srp said...

What a wonderful parable! We all have to weather those wintery patches in life. This is lovely.

Zee said...

A wonderful piece. Thanks for sharing. :)

Shannon akaMonty said...

What a perfect story~sure to cure the Monday blues. :)

It just makes good sense~something that I frequently lack.

Thanks for a wonderful pick-me-up!

sonia a. mascaro said...

What a wonderful and wise parable, Judy! I love it and I will send to many friends of mine. Thanks for sharing!

Thank you so much for your gentle comment about my tapestries and crochet.

sonia a. mascaro said...

Hi Judy, me again.
I forgot to say that I would like to see the wall hanging you made.
I am looking forward to see your weaving!

YellowRose said...

Excellent post!! One that needs to be shared! Thanks Kenju!

Anonymous said...

Beautiful thoughts on a rather blah kind of day. Desert people like me have difficulty with cloudy days. This one is cloudy and windy. . . not a good combination.

brendalove@gmail.com said...

That's a beautiful analogy

OldHorsetailSnake said...

This is a bunch of horse-puckey. Everybody knows the story was really about crab apples.

Merle said...

Judy ~~ That was a wonderful post, and
what a wise man that father was.
We can all learn from this, not to judge
too hastily. Thanks for sharing.
Hope you are feeling much better.
Cheers, Merle.

Traci Dolan said...

I needed that.

Moon said...

Very well put...and so well timed after a long winter lol...am I ever looking forward to new buds on the trees and the spring of my life with my soon to be husband in the beginning of June...We look forward to many seasons of life together....
I know that was totally corny but what a segway!!! lol

OldLady Of The Hills said...

Hope you are right Judy...(lol) No. Actually I know you right, it just does seem sometimes that one season seems to go on for YEARS for some people...!
Glad you are feeling better, my dear Judy...It makes such a difference doesn't it, when you feel like the worst of whatever illness is over? Hope that is definitely the case with youy!

Anonymous said...

Lovely story! No doubt the seasons of life are not always divided in equal time frames, nor do they always follow the sequence of nature's seasons. But I do think we each experience all the seasons.

Think some, if not all, seasons are experienced more than once in a lifetime. As the author said, only at the end of the last season can we fully assess that life. What a tragedy, indeed, if an individual is deprived of experiencing all the seasons.

Carolyn said...

I think I needed to be reminded ot that. Thank you :)

millie garfield said...

Judy

We think alike and at the same time!

I just made a post on Sunday about "Every Season Is Different" and there you are with a most beautiful story about the same thing only expressed more beautifully.

What a great piece.

Weary Hag said...

Lovely little story here ... a great life-lesson!