The Tree

that gave no shade

It was a hot afternoon, I was taking a walk in the open park, and I saw a tall bushy tree standing there in
the middle of the park, but quite surprisingly it did not have a shade. The trees are supposed to give
shade. I was curious and so I went near the tree. I stood beneath the tree and surprise to my eyes,
there was no shade.

So I asked the tree. “Why are you not providing any shade.” and the tree replied “Because majority of the
people who stood earlier under my shade never appreciated of the shade that I provided. In fact
not even one seemed to care for me, for the shade that I provided. So I decided not to give any
more shade”.

I did not find the logic in the argument. So I enquired again, “When the sun is around, you are supposed to
give shade, Sun does its duty, you do your duty, the people enjoying your shade might thank you
might not, but you are supposed to give shade anyways, that is the purpose for which GOD made
you”. There was a long silence and then the tree sighed “May be”.

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I enquired casually to the tree, “Who gives you sunlight, who makes your soil fertile, who guides the
gardener to water you. “

“The GOD, the creator”

“if then, should not your allegiance / loyalty towards to the one who takes care of you and ensure you do
what you are supposed to be doing” there was again a small silence.

I continued, “The clay does not decide what shape it needs to be made, the potter decides “. “The fish in
my aquarium does not decide where it needs to be displayed. I decide and I would know the best
place where it needs to be kept”. This made the tree thinking.

But in reality I have never found a tree that does not give shade. In fact I see the good trees gently
enjoying the breeze having a great time and providing great shade to anybody who come under its
circle of influence. It does not have any worries on who is enjoying its shade, It does not get
prejudiced of the person’s looks, their colour or their motive or their response or whatsoever.

We all can take inspiration from the tree. It does not decrease its shade because the person standing is a
bad person. It does not get discouraged even if the person standing beneath says bad things about
itself. The person could pee on the tree or take an axe and cut it off. But till there is life in tree it
gives shade to all the people which comes under its circle of influence.

Similarly we are like that tree and our acts/work/habit/response like the shade and the circle of influence
are all those people whom we meet / live and communicate with.

Tree does not expect appreciation from the people standing under, but its allegiance/ loyalty is towards
GOD. God blesses the tree, it gives the sunlight needed, Tree only tells its wishes to the GOD, GOD
understands even before the tree mentions it. GOD has never missed a day to give the tree the
sunshine it needed and would also provide the water it needs, for the potter knows what it can
make best out of clay. The creator knows the needs just like the father knows its needs of their
children.

As the adage goes 1“Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he
asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good
gifts to your children, how much more will …..” our God give the blessings to those who ask him.

1
Luke 11:11
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God blesses the tree in abundance, it ensures the tree’s branches are thicker, it ensures that the tree is
spread wide enough, it is tall enough so that it can see all the other trees near by and also see the
beautiful landscape around. That is what the tree wanted, and GOD blessed it more than it asked
for. Should the tree then have any worries at all in its life. Will it ever get de-motivated by the lack
of appreciation by the people who are enjoying the shade. I believe NO.

At the same time, when injustice is happening in our lifes, we need to react/complain; we need to be
assertive, not aggressive. Don’t expect the results the way you wanted, because justice/correction
belongs to GOD and you need to be patient with for his plans to fulfill.

Like that, I will not get discouraged when people insult me even after me helping them. When people
forget to appreciate me even after I have done a favour for them, Because, my blessings comes
from my GOD and I believe he is rich and wise. Again as the adage goes 2I would have planted the
tree in my garden and my wife would have watered the same, but growth/ sprout of life / blessings
and its abundance came from GOD. I who planted and the one who watered did our duty and we
would be rewarded according to our labor, but GOD makes the tree grow. This does not exempt the
tree from doing its duty other than giving shade. It needs to toil, get up early in the morning and be
ready to absorb the sunshine. Keep pushing its limit so that the tender roots can pierce through the
hard soil and find water. But when the tree does that, then the GOD would do its duty to blesses it
with more stronger branches. So there is no excuse for the tree not doing its duty and being lazy,
other than doing its purpose to give shade. 3“Lazy hands make man poor, but diligent hands bring
wealth”

Think of it, what is that we have achieved of our own, if the creator would not have allowed it to happen.
Yet we want to believe all what we have is what we have achieved by our own hard labor. We all
came empty handed, we got all the blessings for free. Lets pay it forward free. 4Who makes you
different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it,
why do you brag as though you did not?

2
1 Cor 3:6-8
3
Proverbs 10:4
4
1 Cor 4:7
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I believe we get angry in life, because we have expectations mismatch from the person whom we have
given the shade. We get angry at the kids, because they do not listen to what you are saying. We
get angry at one another, because he/she does not understand our viewpoint. We get upset, with
somebody, because they did not bring about that change in life, the way I said it. In fact they still
did contrary to what you had adviced them. This does not mean that you should advice others, that
you should shy away from correcting others. But don’t get worried when things don’t happen the
way you expected.

I still recollect the story my teacher mentioned to me when I was a small kid. There was a lean man living
in a hut in a remote village. There was a big stone near his house. One morning, GOD appeared to
him and pointed to the rock and said to him “I want you to try pushing that rock”. He was very
happy, that GOD gave a purpose to his life and went towards the rock and started pushing the
same. But the rock won’t move. He toiled hard till the evening, but the rock did not move an inch.
He got up early the next day morning and would go near the rock and this time with even more
earnest he would try to move the rock but the rock was too heavy for him. He asked his friends,
they said to him to use a smaller rock and use a wooden plank as a lever to push the rock. In spite
of all his trials the rock won’t budge. A month passed and he was feeling very dejected that he
could not carry out one small thing that the GOD ordered him to do. The next day morning the GOD
appeared in front of him again. He would not even look up to him this time, as he is really dejected
that he could not carry out what he had mentioned him to do. GOD then mentioned, “I am very
pleased with you. You have done what I commanded to you. You never missed a day to push the
rock. You were extremely dedicated”. The lean man was surprised and asked GOD, “But the rock
did not move an inch”. To that the GOD replied “I never asked you to move the rock, I only told you
to push it and you did that dutifully. Why then did you associate/expected a result from the activity
that I mentioned to you do. Let me manage the results. Look now your muscles have grown
stronger. Now I can utilise you to do bigger things in life. I will bless you”

We all keep worrying about our life. We believe that we control life. Since we feel we control it, we are
dissatisfied, angry, disappointed when things don’t go the way we thought it would go. “Karam
Karo, Phal Ke Echa Mat Karo (Do dour duty, Don’t expect the results)”. I think this famous Indian
adage has a greater meaning. I would say “Do your duty, Don’t expect the results. Because the GOD
would utilise my duties the best way possible and he will always bless me”. 5Lets not worry about
what we will eat or what we will wear. Life is more than food and the body more than clothes.
Consider the birds that sit on the tree: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet

5
Luke 12:22-31
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 GOD feeds them. And how much valuable are we than the birds. Who of you by worrying can add a
single hour to his life? Since we cannot do this little thing, why do we worry about the rest ?
Consider how the lilles grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet we know that King Solomon (considered
as the wisest person lived on earth according to Christians) in all his splendor never looked more
beautiful than the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how
much more will he clothe / take care of each of us. Do the GOD’s purpose and he knows all our
needs and he will take care of us.

If this reality is understood by us. Then all we need to do is to do the purpose of GOD. That would be to
Love one another. Help one another. Thank the world he created. Spent time to appreciate the
things he has created for us. Next time have a good look at the tree. Its really beautiful. In loving
one another and the world around, but do not have expectations and in doing so also ask the GOD,
to show us what we need to be doing. The rest he will take care of it. We do not need to be
intelligent enough to do this. Try this. It had outstanding results in my life. It could do that in yours
also.

I love the song M.S. Subbulakshmi (noted Indian singer) sang “Kurai Ondrum Illai (You have never allowed
any shortage in my life). Some of the lines goes this way.

You have never allowed any shortage in life. Iam happy and contented with my life, Dear GOD. …..

You are at a place, I can’t see you in person but…

You have never allowed any shortage in life. Iam happy and contented with my life, Dear GOD. …..

Whatever I wanted you gave, my GOD, then what is that I would need more….

You have never allowed any shortage in life. Iam happy and contented with my life, Dear GOD. …..

Only learned and spiritual people can understand your ways, But GOD

Iam happy and contented with my life, because you have never allowed any shortage in my life

….Everything is available for me, then what is that I would need more

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Then nobody is our enemy. In fact no harm can touch us unless GOD decides that to happen in our lives.
As the assurance of the GOD that, 6“A Thousand may fall dead beside you, ten thousand all around
you, but no harm will come near you. You will look and see how the wicked are punished. If you
make GOD your defender, your protector, if your allegiance/ loyalty belongs to GOD, no disaster
will strike you, no violence will come near your home. GOD will put his angels in charge of you to
protect you wherever you go”.

I like the essence of story which my elder once taught me – 7 “If the GOD doesn't build a house, the work of
its builders is useless. If the Lord doesn't watch over a city, it's useless for those on guard duty to
stand watch over it. It's useless for you to work from early morning until late at night just to get
food to eat. God provides for those he loves even while they sleep.” We are his sons and daughter
and we will not have anything lacking.

Please remember the tree which is always eager to do its duty (like our secular jobs) diligently but always
does its purpose by giving shade (loving one another and continually be in interaction with GOD
about the tasks that we are doing) to all the people who comes under its influence.

6
Psalms 91:9-10
7
Psalms 127: 1-3
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