What was “planted” for you?  From Ruth Robinson

I was reminded recently of the Hebrew lesson about a man who planted a fruit tree that would take 70 years to mature.  A stranger asked him why he would bother with this when clearly he’d never live to enjoy the fruit.  The man said that he enjoyed the fruit from trees already over 70 years old, planted by people he never met.  This is what he owed to future generations.

And this from a post by Rev. Cameron Trimble:  We plant whenever we give something to the future without demanding that the future reward us. This takes a special kind of humility. The people who enjoy the fruit may never know our names. They might take for granted what cost us something. They may tell the story in a way we would not have told it. Still, they will need the tree.

The metaphor of the tree includes gifts to us from others we may not have met.  As we approach the Season of Creation at ACC, let’s take a little time to reflect on what was planted in our own lives that is bearing fruit today.  Was there a special teacher who made a difference?  Some other person in your life?  What was it?  Can you imagine paying this gift forward?