THE PERSIMMON TREE
I walk slowly to the front door and stare out the window at the world God has placed in front of me. It is indeed a beautiful day. The thermometer says 87 degrees and the sun shining through the trees creates shadows that dance to a tune that is playing somewhere deep in my memory. As I survey the green grass, something grabs my attention with a quickness that is surprising to a mind as slow as mine has become. What catches my eye are the leaves on the ground under the Persimmon Tree. The Persimmon is called the fruit of the Gods and has a reputation of being very sour and making your lips pucker, but if you will wait until all the leaves fall from the tree, the fruit becomes as sweet as anything. The leaves are now falling from my Persimmon Tree and the ones on the ground have turned a beautiful golden yellow. This is also a sign that it won't be long until fall. That's right, I tell myself. In the blink of an eye the summer of my 65th year will be gone. When I say "65 years" it seems like a long time, but when I remember some things, when I recall some memories and events, it seems as if it was only yesterday when these things took place. Monday will be August 12th. On August 12, 1968, my good friend Ken Blair lost his life in Vietnam. Surely that wasn't 45 years ago but the calendar doesn't lie. It was only four years before that Ken and I had been down at the Georgia Tech Dome to watch the Georgia High School State Championship Basketball Game. We had not a worry in the world. Seems that it was only a couple of years ago. And my daughters. They can't be more than teenagers...... They just can't be!!!!!!! It was only like a few months ago they were running around with their Cabbage Patch Dolls. And the memory of Josh riding in the snow in his battery powered Big Foot truck. That must have been last winter...... It can't be very long ago because the memory is too clear.
My eyes return to the Persimmon tree and I say to myself..."Be Patient....the fruit will be sweet in time." What a lesson there is to be learned from this. Time is the first gift God gives to each of us but for most of us, it takes most of our lifetime to learn how to use it. A well known pastor was once asked what his most profound regret in life was: His answer..."being in a hurry." That's where I've lived most of my life...... "In a Hurry" .... I've always been in a hurry it seems. I was in a hurry to do this and do that. I was in a hurry to grow up. I was in a hurry to buy this and a hurry to learn that. Now as I look back I was in a hurry because I thought I was saving time. In reality by living this way, I managed to lose time, never to be recaptured. Think about it.....By hurrying our whole life, we miss out on so much of life. Sounds contradictory doesn't it but it's not. By hurrying to save time you really lose time. It took most of my life to learn this.
I'm now 65 and God has slowed me down. I'm not in as good of health physically as I once was. I have arthritis and bad knees. I don't tell you all this for sympathy or pity.....OH No!!!!!!!...... I praise God for my ailments. Oh sure I have some discomfort but nothing that is unbearable. But you see, the benefits I receive because of what most people would call problems are unbelievable. I can no longer hurry when I walk so I now have time to look at the beauty around me as I walk through my yard or stroll through the park. I use to never really be aware of all that was around me. Now when I go out to my shop or to feed the chickens, it takes me twice as long as it use to and now I have time to look at the wonders of His creation. When I'm around my children and grandchildren, I notice and hear things that use to just pass me by. Last week we were in Mentone Alabama for the Worlds Longest yard Sale. All of our children and grandchildren but one came up to spend the night. The one had to work and couldn't come. What a blessing it is to watch how they all get along and how they watch out for each other. Because of the closeness of Cindy and Vicki in age, Peggy and I always said they raised each other and then when Josh came along they were older so it was like he had three Mamas. Now I am so proud of the job all three are doing raising their own children. There is a closeness and a love that I may not have seen a few years ago. I was in to big of a hurry......
Yep...I'm 65 years old......You might say I'm in the fall of my life. And if you say that, I can assure you that the leaves of the days and years of my life are falling to the ground as I enter my fall season. And these leaves, each and every one of them, are a beautiful golden color and I count and admire and enjoy each and everyone that lays before me on the ground...... for you see, I now have a new found patience, and as each leave touches the ground, the fruits of this life become sweeter. As sweet as anything..... Now I'm in a hurry no more for I have plenty of time....... I have plenty of time for you see..." I stand on the edge of eternity."
May God Bless you with a new Patience.
