Full to the Brim: You are Worthy
Reflections
Sometimes I wish I was the fig tree.
No fruit here, just soaking up the sun,
growing roots, turning green,
stretching out my branches until
I can hug the horizon.Sometimes I wish I was the fig tree,
because she doesn’t produce,
and she’s not exhausted,
and she probably gets eight hours
of sleep at night.
And her branches,
unlike my shoulders,
are not heavy with work—
pulled toward the ground,
threatening to break.And her trunk,
unlike my spine,
is not fighting to stand tall
while holding it all together.
Sometimes I wish I was the fig tree
because she knows
what I forgot
many years ago.
You are still worthy
even if
you don’t produce.— Rev. Sarah Speed
- The landowner in the parable, who wanted to cut down the fig tree, is more like the Roman emperor, not God
- The story of the fig tree reminds us that the world’s expectations do not need to be ours. The gardener puts their faith in that which they have no control. Digging a bigger hole and filling it with manure, they tend to the tree with everything it needs to grow into its purpose. Perhaps this means bearing figs. Or maybe it provides shade for the laborers during the harvest, an opportunity for the gardener to tend to the fields in a new way, or transformation of the owner’s ability to see beyond the commodification of the land. — Rev. Larissa Kwong Abazia
- Jesus, like the gardener, would always be saying one more year
