July 25th, 2006
 

Today you can listen to my interview with Lauren Winner at “The Kindlings Muse.” Lauren’s journey illustrates the wonderful truth of the Pear Tree Parable I’ve posted below. A snapshot of any stage of one’s journey is inadequate as a representation of the total journey and this ought to bring moderation to our perception of others. C.S. Lewis reports that he never bought the idea of “hating the sin and loving the sinner” until he realized there was one person for whom he always offered this grace—himself!

Pear Tree Parable

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 soon, or later.

FOOTNOTE: I must add among the treasures I hauled off from the recent CS Lewis Foundation event was Michael Kelly Blanchard’s CD’s including his song “Pear,” a reference to what happens to one’s body in middle age… It could be called “boomers lament” as it cries out “I’m a pear, my upper body has gone down there; my middle regions have become a sphere!”

Yet another reason to celebrate the Pear Parable!

Yours for the pursuit of God in the company of friends, Dick Staub.

PS. And remember, “these are the best of times and the worst of times, but they are the only times we have.” (For Now).

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