Reasons Why

13) A Listening Ear

"I have a feeling that this Saturday is going to be a wonderful one." 

Patricia smiled and nodded in agreement as she walked beside her pastor within his compound. When he had asked for her early in the morning, she had been surprised and sceptical because the man never called someone abruptly. He was a man of principles and strict planning. However, she had finished up the plans for the program on Saturday with him, other ministers, leaders and workers in the church. This morning was supposed to be free for her, yet here she was walking with the man while his pleasant wife was busy in the kitchen preparing breakfast for their children to eat before going to school. She wasn't complaining. No of course not. She was simply curious. "Sir-" she continued when the man gave her a listening ear. They are currently standing under a huge tree in the man's garden at the back of his house. "I'm curious as to why you sent for me this morning."

"My dear, can I ask you a question?"

"Yes sir."

The pastor took off his glass and put it into its case. After shuffling the case into his pocket, he touched the bark of the big tree. "Do you think I should cut down this tree?"

"Sir?" Patricia was slightly thrown off balance by the sudden question. 

"This Avocado tree hardly produces fruits and it has all sorts of growths on it. It looks diseased, does it not?"

Growth? Patricia was confused. The man took good care of his garden. His tree was perfectly healthy. The only thing she could see that was out of place was the white powdery streaks on the bark of the tree and all over most of the branches. Then there were the occasional insects, but the leaves of the tree were a healthy green colour. It looked strong too. So why would he want to cut it? "Well, the white powdery things may be a cause for concern, but I don't think that's a reason to cut it."

The pastor nodded. "Hmm." He placed his hand on his jaw. "Interesting. Do you see that bitter leaf plant beside you?"

Patricia stared at the said plant just a few paces to her right. "Yes sir."

"Do you remember how dried up the plant was a few weeks ago when you visited?"

Indeed, the plant was dry and the leaves had all fallen off, but now the plant seemed to be doing well. The leaves were big and green. "Yes sir. It's much better now than before."

"Exactly. That's what happens when Jesus steps into something. There's immediate restoration. You see, my wife encouraged me to replace the bitter leaf plant with a new one, but I believed that as far as the root was still connected to the ground, it still had life. I was right. It took time and effort. At a time, I almost believed it wouldn't be revived but my hope was renewed when it started producing tiny tender leaves around the body. You needed to have seen me jumping and dancing like a mad man that morning before going to the church." The pastor laughed and shook his head.

Patricia, familiar with the man's peculiar way of teaching, was waiting for him to come to his point. She had an idea of what he was driving at, but she kept silent.

"The lesson from this is that, you do not write something off just because it looks dry and useless. As children of light, we are meant to bring restoration upon whatever we touch. Dry bones shall rise again. Nothing is useless. It just depends on how you see it. Take this Avocado tree for example. It has only produced three fruits for me since I planted it two years ago, but do you know how valuable this tree is?"

Patricia shook her head. Just what value would a frustrating tree like this have? Three fruits only? After two years? Ah, now she understood why he was considering cutting it down. 

"The leaves of this tree can be used to prepare natural medicine that can cure typhoid fever and malaria. Boiling the leaves on its own acts as a pain relief medicine. It may not produce food often, but it gives medicine. Someone who has no knowledge of this fact would see this tree as a stain on their garden, term it fruitless and wish to cut it down."