by God's Little Boy
© MakeshiftDarkroom.com 2025
Posted 4/25/25

There was a certain man who planted three fig trees, in each of their particular places, on the sunny south side of his house, for the fruit that the trees would yield to him. The fig trees were different from all of the other trees surrounding them in that they were fruit trees, and as such, were particularly favored by the man, and received special attention. For the first few years he carefully nurtured the trees protecting them from sun scald in summer and frost damage in winter until the roots were established. The first tree he named “Julia,” the 2nd tree “Dora,” and the 3rd tree “Bella” for her beautiful form and leaf.

After the trees were established they began to yield significant fruit for the man. The figs were smaller in size than what was common, but were twice as sweet. This, to the man, was an equitable trade, for it is better to savor and delight than it is to weigh and measure. In the first few years, the man began to notice that the trees were different. They were of the same cultivar, yet each tree possessed its own unique individual characteristics.

Julia was the fruitful queen, consistently and reliably producing the earliest and most abundant yield. Julia had fruit on her branches while in her pot at the nursery. She was planted in the spot that received the most sun throughout the day adding to her fruitfulness, but the man could tell that her fruitfulness was also a native trait. Julia put on less leaf than the other trees and was the smallest.

Dora was a bigger tree, and each year she would bring fruit to maturity about a full two weeks after Julia’s early crop. Dora’s yearly yield was a little more than half of Julia’s, but her figs were just as sweet. Dora was the seemingly perfect blend of leaf and fruit consistently producing each year. It was as if Dora had nothing to prove among fig trees in either fruit bearing or beauty of leaf, but was content to be what she was, and her contentment produced a healthy and effortless balance of good fruit and growth that the man could rely upon and delight in.

Bella was the vain tree. The man wasn't sure if it was possible for a fig tree to be vain, but if it was possible, that was Bella. She was the biggest, and most beautiful. She also had more leaf than fruit. She was the last to bring fruit to maturity and the first to stop yielding toward the end of summer. In spite of her limited yield, she almost always produced something of significance and value for the man, and at certain times and on many days her figs made for a fuller harvest. The man lost count of the many times he had tasted and enjoyed a single sweet fig from Bella when that was all she offered on a given day.

Early on, the man (concerned only with fruit) considered digging Bella out and planting another more fruitful tree, but decided instead to keep her because she was a valuable fruit tree that belonged to him. She had been planted and established, and she had been given a name. He couldn't let her go having surmised that the end of the matter was not only about fruit, but also of value. Fruit itself is a transient and fleeting thing, but fruit bearers are perpetual and enduring. When fruit bearers are lost where is the hope of any fruit? Fruit bearers are the true value and of highest worth. Lift up the fruit bearers, if only for what they are!

The husbandman pruned and kept the trees carefully and each tree produced what she would. During the fruiting season, he came for the daily harvest beginning with Julia and ending with Bella. As all of the trees yielded their fruit together the husbandman had all the fruit that he needed, with enough to give to others.

Back to Snapshots

Doctrinal Statement

A Safe Light in a Dark World.