Pruned: A Parable

In a garden in the desert there was a tree. She was beautiful, lush and healthy and growing with a swiftness unknown to most desert plants. She had been planted in good soil and her roots drank deeply from a nearby stream.

One day, the Gardener was walking along the stream. As he went, he pulled up the weeds that would entangle the flowers and trimmed back branches that hung too low over the path. As he approached the tree, she trembled, at first with delight when she saw him but then with fear when she noted the sheers in his hands.

“Good morning, Tree,” said the Gardener. “What is making your leaves shake so?”

“Hello, Gardener,” said the tree. “At first, I shook in greeting, waving my boughs as you would wave your strange branches. But now I am afraid, for I’ve seen you cut away the leaves of…