I was in a great class today with our
new ward (our boundaries were rearranged) and it was in that first
elders quorum lesson that there was a condensed discussion on the
subject of the Tree of Life. For those that don't know what this is,
its a tree that produces a fruit so desired that you would give
everything for. For us in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day
Saints, its the gospel of Jesus Christ; the knowledge of God and his
Son, the Messiah of the world.
While we were learning about how much
faith played in our lives and our success on learning who God is and
what He wants for us His children, we make the point that for each of
us the fruit of the Tree of Life is different for each of us. For
some this means that a person loves the sacrament, others it might be
the role of tithing; the elements that bring out the best of us and
strengthen our faith. As a side note, my faith has been built by
trial of physical events that ask for me to pray and call out to the
Lord for help. The Lord has been mindful of me and answered my
prayers.
While I was in the course the idea of a
tree that has had limbs grafted into it like a citrus tree that has
oranges, limes and lemons. By itself the tree would only gain the
experience of oranges or just lemons etc... but grafting a tree
through painful for the tree creates something that can be so
beneficial to everyone that owns one of these graft trees.
The Lord knows all too much about
grafting but this part of my life where I am the tree and the fruit
is now coming out of my work and faith is a new realization. I have
always seen the fruit of the Tree of Life as an outside is a brand
new thought. The fruit that I am called to produce must be sweet and
desirable and bring others to the great and divine tree that all
should seek to partake.
A bit of a big load huh?
Thankfully the Lord groups the trees of
this fantastic fruit through gathering the saints. After all, the
fruit of the saints are not always sweet (think of grapefruits). So
mixing experiences and tastes of life is almost crucial. How grateful
am I for that? Very. I love our savior and his master plan. I don't
always understand it but man I love being a part of it.