One of the readings for the third Sunday of Lent (which happened to be yesterday) has in it the parable of the fig tree. Jesus tells of a landowner who had a fig that did not produce. The landowner wanted it cut down, as it had already had three chances to grow some figs. But the gardener protested, asking that some digging be done around the roots, some extra fertilizer be added and then if it did not produce, it would be time to cut it down.
This has so much resonance with our fig tree that I have to tell the story...
Many years ago I bought a small ficus benjamina - better known as a Weeping Fig. This poor plant was continually on the verge of being cast into the refuse heap as it was often down to one leaf - partly due to my own forgetfulness when it came to the chore of watering it, and partly because it seemed that every time it got moved, it would lose most of its leaves. I once read that the plant had brittle connections between the stem and the leaf and it was thus very sensitive to being moved. I discovered only yesterday with some quick research on Wikipedia that it is not about being brittle but rather that the plant is very sensitive to changing light conditions. When it is moved, the old leaves which are used to the type of light in one place fall off, and new ones that are adjusted to the new lighting conditions grow back. Regardless of the reason, the result was the same - namely that I very often had a plant with very few leaves, and quite often only one.
This was long before I was married. The subject of the lonely one-leafed fig tree came up quite a few times after marriage but I successfully pleaded its case.
Long story short - here's a photo
of the way it looks now - an iconic symbol of the value of second, third and fourth chances - and an important symbol of our married relationship!Yellowknife, NT
Monday, March 8, 2010
