Parable of dead things

I hope you’ll read this to the end because it’s taken me a lifetime to write. 

Dead things can destroy your life. I’m going to write this like a parable. 

Here’s my parable:

There was a farmer that planted a beautiful fruit tree. He watered and fed it and expected it to grow. The problem was that one branch kept dying.  He would nurture it and it would grow a bud and he just knew it would live. But it would fall off and die.

The farmer neglected the rest of the tree trying to save that one branch. The branch would bud, then the bud would fall off and die. 

The man was very frustrated and said to himself “ why does this branch keep dying?” “I’m doing everything right, I get hopeful then that bud falls at my feet and dies.”

The rest of the tree became sick. It was giving its strength to breathe life into the dead branch. The tree would breathe, a bloom would appear, but the tree didn’t have what it needed to sustain the dead limb. 

The farmer called a professional out to look at his sick  tree. The man said “ what are you feeding it!?” The farmer told him all the nutrients he’d used, how much water and care he’d given it and the man was confused. “ it sounds like you’re doing everything you can”. The farmer replied “then why is it sick?” 

The man walked around to inspect the tree and saw the dead branch. He said “why don’t you cut off the dead branch?” The farmer said “well, it blooms every now and again so it’s not dead.”  

The man scratched his head and asked “how long has your tree been sick?” “Was it sick before the branch died?” “No”, replied the farmer.  

The man then explained to the farmer that when you nurture something that’s dead you end up neglecting the part that’s alive.” The farmer scratched his head and said ,” but it blooms every now and then. So it must not be dead .” The man continued “the branch is coming back to life at the cost of the entire tree.” “Every time it blooms it costs the tree its strength “. “ If you remove the dead branch the tree will survive.”

The farmer was certain he’d been given bad advice. After all, he’d seen the blooms himself.

One evening, after tending to the dead branch, he fell asleep under the tree. He had a dream. In the dream the tree spoke to the farmer.  It says “why do you keep making me bring that branch back to life? I’m not strong enough to sustain it.” “If you’d put your effort into nurturing the living parts I would thrive.” The farmer said “but it keeps blooming. If I cut it off it will never bloom .” The tree replied, “that dead branch is sapping my strength.” “ your insistence that it live is taking my life”. “ please  free me from the dead branch and nurture what is alive.”

The farmer woke up and realized that his hope for something dead to regain its life was killing the part that was alive.” The farmer cut off the dead branch snd the tree began to thrive. 

What are you feeding in your life? Look at your priorities, relationships, hopes and dreams. What is thriving and what is already dead? How much time have you wasted breathing life into something that will never bloom again? 

As 2021 comes to a close I’m not setting new resolutions, they are a waste of time. Instead I’m re-evaluating where I spend my energy. Where have I wasted hope? Some people say that hope is never wasted. The Bible says “Hope deferred makes the heart sick.” To defer something is to put it aside for the sake of something else. What would thrive in your life if you stopped feeding what was already dead?

It’s incredibly difficult to finally admit that something is dead. But the fact is, it’s probably been dead a long time. Look for life and nurture it wherever you see it. Cut off the dead things .