"Avocado Resilience: What is this tree teaching you?" ~ by Darin Johnson, Campus Pastor
[Jesus] told this parable: "A man had a fig tree planted in his
vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it and found none. So he said
to the gardener, ‘See here! For three years I have come looking for
fruit on this fig tree, and still I find none. Cut it down! Why should
it be wasting the soil?’ He replied, ‘Sir, let it alone for one more
year, until I dig around it and put manure on it. If it bears fruit next
year, well and good; but if not, you can cut it down.’” - Luke 13.6-9
About six years ago, we planted this avocado tree at Agape House--the
first hopeful step into our new communal garden. It struggled through
salt burn from horse manure. It gave us a couple of small avocados once,
but just languished. Then a vandal sadly snapped its trunk in half. We
were sure it would die...and it was dead to all appearances. Slowly a
shoot came from the dry stump, but I sure assumed it would never produce
fruit again. Nevertheless, we faithfully
watered and composted around this avocado tree in trust and hope. Then
another major impact hit--shade for most of the year from the new dorm
next door and parking structure built right by the tree. Again, I
assumed it would surely never produce fruit in shade almost all
year--this photo is still just coming out of the shade at 10:40am!
However, I was wrong yet again--you can see new avocados growing (a
dozen!). What is this tree teaching you?
“Ask the animals, and they will teach you; the birds of the air, and
they will tell you; ask the plants of the earth, and they will teach
you; and the fish of the sea will declare to you. Who among all these
does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this? In [God's] hand is
the life of every living thing and the breath of every human being." Job
12.7-10
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