SEASONS

Lesson about 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 explanation:

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.