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Viewpoint from Judith Edmonds 16/03/2018
Judith Edmonds
Webmaster, Network Yarmouth
Member Park Baptist Church
as published in the Yarmouth Mercury
 don’t judge life by one difficult season
Someone shared this story with me a very long time ago and I’m afraid I can’t remember who the writer was but, if you are reading this and you are that person, thank you for this profound piece of wisdom which I found echoed in Psalm 37
Do not fret because of evil men or be envious of those who do wrong; for like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away. Trust in the Lord and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart…………..
There was a man who had four sons. He wanted his sons to learn not to judge things too quickly. So he sent each in turn on a quest... To go and look at a pear tree that was a great distance away. The first son went in the winter, the second in the spring, the third in the summer, and the youngest in the autumn
 When they had all gone and come back, he called them together to describe what they had seen. The first son said that the tree was ugly, bent and twisted. The second son said no, it was covered with green buds and full of promise. The third son disagreed. He said it was laden with blossoms that smelled so sweet and looked so beautiful; it was the most graceful thing he had ever seen. The last son disagreed with all of them. He said it was ripe and drooping with fruit, full of life and fulfilment
Then the man explained to his sons that they were all right because they had each seen, but only one season in the trees life. He told them that you cannot judge a tree, or a person by only one season, and that the essence of who they are and the pleasure, joy and the love that comes from that life can only be measured at the end, when all the seasons have been fulfilled
And so... If you give up when it's winter, you will miss the promise of your spring, the beauty of your summer, and the fulfilment of your autumn. Don't let the pain of one season destroy the joy of "all" the rest. Don't judge life by one difficult season
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