The Seasons of Life

There was a man who had four sons. He wanted his sons to learn not to judge things to quickly. So he sent them each one a quest, in turn, to go look at a pear tree that was a great distance away.

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

When they had all gone and returned. He called them together to describe what they had seen.

The first said that the tree was ugly, bent and twisted.
The second son said 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 explained to his sons that they were all right because they had seen only one season in the trees life.

He told them that you cannot judge a tree or a person by only one season. That the essence of who they are and the pleasure, joy and love that comes 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 and the fulfillment of your fall.

Don’t let the pain of one season destroy the joy of all the rest.  Don’t judge life by one difficult season. Preserver through the difficult paths and better times are sure to come in time.
Happiness keeps you sweet
Trials keeps you strong
Sorrows keeps you human
Failures keeps you humble
Success keeps you growing
But God keeps you going.
Let us ‘walk in grace’ together.
May we find ‘joy in the journey and good times in the going.