A seed fell from a tree and landed in the ground. In the shade it sprouted and grew to become a small tree.
This little tree grew bit by bit but never very quickly and never becoming very large.
The little tree resented this and blamed its parent tree saying, “I am always in your shadow and never able to grow great and strong. I wish I was far away from you so that I could grow large–even larger than you.”
This greatly saddened the parent tree. “My little one, I have always cared for you and helped you grow. You must trust me.”
“Little one? Little one? Must I grow in your shadow and stay so small for all my days?”
At that moment something incredible happened. The little tree got it’s wish. A great and terrible earthquake split the ground between the two trees. A great chasm separated them and the little tree no longer grew below the shadow of the parent tree.
Now the little tree could see the parent tree in its entirety. Above the recognizable underbrush that it knew so well was a layer of charred gray branches. This tree was great indeed but at its top it was mangled and burned.
That’s when the little tree felt the burning of the sun for the first time. The leaves at the top quickly withered as did the branches which held them.
This forever stunted the growth of the little tree. It remained little and at a distance so great from its parent and was never able to say how sorry it was for the words that it said before they were separated.
The little tree wished it had trusted its parent.
The Fourth Commandment: Honor your father and your mother.
