LIKE A TREE.
In many respects a person's character is like a tree. The strength and solidity of a tree depend a great deal upon its roots. Some trees have a long, central root called the taproot, running down into the earth, and other roots extending out on the sides. Such trees are set so firmly in the ground that it is very hard to remove them.
They stand against the severest storms and most violent winds... The true taproot of character is faith in God;—a believing that there is a God who has made us, who watches over us, and who will, at last,. call us to give an account of our lives, and will reward or punish us according as they have been good or bad. The roots of a tree draw food from the soil and suck up the juices that make the sap, which flows to all the branches and leaves causing them to grow in-strength and beauty: So the roots of character gather food from all influences around us, and bring them in to help our growth.
The branches of a tree spread themselves out in the air on all sides, and upon them a multitude of leaves unfold themselves, making the tree very beautiful. They do MORE than this. The under side of every leaf is covered with open pores like little mouths which drink in the air and the sunlight; and these help in the growth of the tree.
So character divides itself into many branches on the same trunk, and through the open mouths of feelings, affections, appetites, inclinations, and dispositions, it gathers the elements that make it what it is.
Many trees bear beautiful blossoms, and so do many characters.
Smiles and kind words, gentle manners and helpful services make any one's character beautiful But the best, thing about, a tree, after all, is the fruit it bears. Its fruit is both food and medicine, and makes it more valuable than anything else can. True, some trees seem to bear no fruit but their own stout bodies and. branches that are cut up into timber and firewood; but that makes them useful, which is perhaps, the truest kind of fruitfulness.
Will you read or repeat the first Psalm, and notice what kind of man it is that David says shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season?
The Little Star