A famous parable in the Gospel According to Luke features a fig tree growing in a vineyard, whose owner orders its execution after being disappointed for the last time.
I feel like an unproductive fig tree this year. I know my presence is still valuable, but I can't seem to get anything productive done beyond the basics. Maybe it's okay and right and true that my role right now is to have a steady place for my kids, be a cooling presence for my stressed and grieving husband whose father is in hospice care. Maybe my lack of above and beyond productivity is not the point right now. This has brought a beautiful perspective to my present and I thank you.
Thanks for sharing that. I am at a stage in my life when my role is not the engine but the ride along and offer support when needed. Yes, productivity is not the point of my life now.
Oh but Miss Barbara- you may have not seen a product so delicious from the fig tree. Its leaves! They can be boiled in water with sugar to make a syrup delicious over ice cream, in ice cream, with prosecco or more potent to flavor vodka. The fig tree gives back to the soil as well. Enjoy, and thank you for reminding me of the wonders of the parable
I always thought this text was odd. One last chance isn't exactly 70 times 7, is it? But then I reasoned that a tree cut down doesn't disappear. It could be firewood or lumber for building or do something else since it isn't good at what it is supposed to be doing.....according to the man who owns it.
But then you raise the issue that it may be good for purposes unrelated to fruit production.
Could it be related to disappointment in Jesus who didn't exactly produce the results a lot of people were hoping for, and was indeed cut down, but had a different purpose after all. I am grasping at straws here.
When I was a kid, we always had a few hens around. They'd eat vast amounts of chicken feed, scratch around the garden in the summer eating pests (& the occasional tomato), dustbath for hours, yell at the dogs, harass the cats (who'd return the favour) and -- very occasionally -- lay an egg. Now & again one would disappear or die & would be replaced & I asked my mother once why we kept them when they did very little to earn their keep. She said "because watching them pootle around being hens makes me happy". I knew exactly what she meant & have never been able to come up with a better reason.
This makes me smile about our gaggle of hens that pootle around the yard. Most of whom have spent half the summer going broody and hogging eggs when they could get them. Even if they aren’t terribly productive, they give us plenty of entertainment (as my kids give them plenty of chase!).
Thank you, Barbara, for this. A very interesting view on this parable. I have been thinking about figs recently, and I noticed that in both stories — Nathanael (John 1:45–51) and Hezekiah (Isaiah 38) — the fig somehow reveals that God acts. Wouldn’t it be possible to look at this story as a story of a lack of human patience towards God? Building on your text, we can even say that we tend to create a vision of God, certain expectations as to what a relationship with Him should bring into our life, and fail to notice how much we are actually given. And we can even decide that it is time to cut the fig tree down and have it removed from the vineyard.
"we can even say that we tend to create a vision of God, certain expectations as to what a relationship with Him should bring into our life, and fail to notice how much we are actually given".
Ouch! I have been disappointed many times because God isn't "showing up" like I want Him to. Time to let go of those expectations . . . .
As a VA Chaplain (now retired), I often used this parable with Veterans in the Mental Health residential rehabilitation unit for Vets with Post-Traumatic Stress and addictions. I would ask those who could to stand, to hold their arms out to their side, and to imagine that they were fig trees. Then would encourage them to imagine manure being spread around their feet. The Vets were then asked to describe the smell. I got a variety of very specific responses (some of which I'll not name) included under the broad category of "smelly." I then pointed out that their personal situations were smelly but that they each personally and together collectively could use that manure as a fruitful grace, as a means of growth in their bodies, hearts, minds and spirits.
The fig tree’s answer is the whole piece: it refuses your standard before it refuses your verdict. Most of us never get that far. We accept the metric before we ever ask who wrote it, so the cutting down feels earned by the time it happens. A tree that talks back about guinea hens and a fat cat isn’t dodging the question, it’s revealing that productivity was never a neutral measure to begin with, just the owner’s convenience dressed up as an inspection.
As always, thank you. I am discovering that aging brings its own weird experiences of fruit-less-ness. But every once in a while…those figs drop in good places.
I had a Fig Fest last year !!!!! alas this year it’s not produced, but has it ? I’ve just looked at it in a completely different way Thank you Barbara Thank you Lord.
I absolutely love your take on this parable. Whose standards of productivity (or lack of) matters - it all depends on our perspective. The ultimate question is to understand God's perspective, which I think you just helped me with!!
I don't read every post from every writer to whom I subscribe but I do when you post! Your writing is clean and clear, full of insight and grace. Also a first - I read it aloud to my husband for it applied to a situation at his work. Oh, to write pieces so applicable!! Thank you for giving me something to ponder, to implement...that's the content, but also the construction of the piece. How wise to actually ask the tree itself!! Thank you for everything you write. I truly appreciate you.
I feel like an unproductive fig tree this year. I know my presence is still valuable, but I can't seem to get anything productive done beyond the basics. Maybe it's okay and right and true that my role right now is to have a steady place for my kids, be a cooling presence for my stressed and grieving husband whose father is in hospice care. Maybe my lack of above and beyond productivity is not the point right now. This has brought a beautiful perspective to my present and I thank you.
Thanks for sharing that. I am at a stage in my life when my role is not the engine but the ride along and offer support when needed. Yes, productivity is not the point of my life now.
Me too.
Oh but Miss Barbara- you may have not seen a product so delicious from the fig tree. Its leaves! They can be boiled in water with sugar to make a syrup delicious over ice cream, in ice cream, with prosecco or more potent to flavor vodka. The fig tree gives back to the soil as well. Enjoy, and thank you for reminding me of the wonders of the parable
I’m on it! Fig leaf sauce for dessert!
About 5 young leaves to 2 qts water and 2 c sugar. Boil til less than half is left. ( use leaves to wrap fish)
That sounds delicious!
I always thought this text was odd. One last chance isn't exactly 70 times 7, is it? But then I reasoned that a tree cut down doesn't disappear. It could be firewood or lumber for building or do something else since it isn't good at what it is supposed to be doing.....according to the man who owns it.
But then you raise the issue that it may be good for purposes unrelated to fruit production.
Could it be related to disappointment in Jesus who didn't exactly produce the results a lot of people were hoping for, and was indeed cut down, but had a different purpose after all. I am grasping at straws here.
Maybe a bunch of intriguing straws are more fruitful than a settled answer?
As a gardener and a striving human, wow, I can relate. Thank you!
When I was a kid, we always had a few hens around. They'd eat vast amounts of chicken feed, scratch around the garden in the summer eating pests (& the occasional tomato), dustbath for hours, yell at the dogs, harass the cats (who'd return the favour) and -- very occasionally -- lay an egg. Now & again one would disappear or die & would be replaced & I asked my mother once why we kept them when they did very little to earn their keep. She said "because watching them pootle around being hens makes me happy". I knew exactly what she meant & have never been able to come up with a better reason.
Such a good answer from your mother.
This makes me smile about our gaggle of hens that pootle around the yard. Most of whom have spent half the summer going broody and hogging eggs when they could get them. Even if they aren’t terribly productive, they give us plenty of entertainment (as my kids give them plenty of chase!).
Thank you, Barbara, for this. A very interesting view on this parable. I have been thinking about figs recently, and I noticed that in both stories — Nathanael (John 1:45–51) and Hezekiah (Isaiah 38) — the fig somehow reveals that God acts. Wouldn’t it be possible to look at this story as a story of a lack of human patience towards God? Building on your text, we can even say that we tend to create a vision of God, certain expectations as to what a relationship with Him should bring into our life, and fail to notice how much we are actually given. And we can even decide that it is time to cut the fig tree down and have it removed from the vineyard.
And if anybody is interested I wrote about the fig cake just last week: https://wordcrumbs.substack.com/p/a-cake-of-figs-a-sundial-and-plucked?r=2zcwhg&utm_medium=ios
Love that. The multiple readings are what make this parable so worth wrestling.
I agree. How many times have I told God that if this is the best he can do, I am running out of patience with the suffering I see around me.
"we can even say that we tend to create a vision of God, certain expectations as to what a relationship with Him should bring into our life, and fail to notice how much we are actually given".
Ouch! I have been disappointed many times because God isn't "showing up" like I want Him to. Time to let go of those expectations . . . .
As a VA Chaplain (now retired), I often used this parable with Veterans in the Mental Health residential rehabilitation unit for Vets with Post-Traumatic Stress and addictions. I would ask those who could to stand, to hold their arms out to their side, and to imagine that they were fig trees. Then would encourage them to imagine manure being spread around their feet. The Vets were then asked to describe the smell. I got a variety of very specific responses (some of which I'll not name) included under the broad category of "smelly." I then pointed out that their personal situations were smelly but that they each personally and together collectively could use that manure as a fruitful grace, as a means of growth in their bodies, hearts, minds and spirits.
Beautiful picture.
Blessings and Shalom!
Love the trust (and ripe fruits) of smell in this healing memory.
The fig tree’s answer is the whole piece: it refuses your standard before it refuses your verdict. Most of us never get that far. We accept the metric before we ever ask who wrote it, so the cutting down feels earned by the time it happens. A tree that talks back about guinea hens and a fat cat isn’t dodging the question, it’s revealing that productivity was never a neutral measure to begin with, just the owner’s convenience dressed up as an inspection.
Thanks for sharing!
Love this: "it refuses your standard before it refuses your verdict."
As always, thank you. I am discovering that aging brings its own weird experiences of fruit-less-ness. But every once in a while…those figs drop in good places.
Thank you for your wisdom. And for the beautiful picture.
I had a Fig Fest last year !!!!! alas this year it’s not produced, but has it ? I’ve just looked at it in a completely different way Thank you Barbara Thank you Lord.
I absolutely love your take on this parable. Whose standards of productivity (or lack of) matters - it all depends on our perspective. The ultimate question is to understand God's perspective, which I think you just helped me with!!
Good reminder lesson that it's not all about us. He gave us a whole creation, a universe to consider and be dependent on each other.
Ooomph. This was so fitting this am as I sit in my self righteous chair. Thank you.
I don't read every post from every writer to whom I subscribe but I do when you post! Your writing is clean and clear, full of insight and grace. Also a first - I read it aloud to my husband for it applied to a situation at his work. Oh, to write pieces so applicable!! Thank you for giving me something to ponder, to implement...that's the content, but also the construction of the piece. How wise to actually ask the tree itself!! Thank you for everything you write. I truly appreciate you.
I need to talk to more trees.