Parable of the Apple Trees

Three young men were discussing their apple trees as summer began. The first man boasted of the quantity of fruit on the branches. "The little tree, she's loaded. Never ever seen so many apples."

His companions shook their heads, and one queried, "Did you prune it? Cull it?"

"Why would I do that?" answered the first. "The fruit is beautiful and sweet. It would ruin the tree to cut it back. Besides, it's the spraying that insures good fruit."

The second man guffawed. "Spraying is a waste. My fruit's dandy, and I didn't spray."

The third chimed in, "I agree. I don't do anything 'cept mow around it. Backyard fruit's cheap and easy. Just go out an' harvest when you're hungry. That's all there is to it."

So the season progressed, with none of the three young men paying any heed to their valiant trees. The days grew shorter and the nights grew chillier. Then one frosty evening when the moon was full, a snap sounded in the still air. The first man ran to his yard to find what was amiss. His burdened tree was split, right in half. Branches were draped over the lawn and apples were sprawled across the moonlit ground.

With angst, he examined the tree, but it seemed impossible to heal it now. There was nothing to do but abandon it.

Not long after, the second man gathered his bushel baskets and headed toward his tree to collect some of the sweetness he envisioned to be waiting there. But apple after apple turned out to be wormy, and in the end, he had nothing but empty baskets to return home with.

When the third man came to his tree, he found grass choking its trunk. To his dismay, he realized that insects, which crawled through the thick damp grass, had gnawed their way under the bark of the tree. The leaves were curly and withered, some of the branches bare and lifeless. The sickly, struggling tree was more dead than alive. It would be good for nothing but a bonfire.

"Many people there are...who do not find divorce attorneys and who do not end their marriages, but who have permitted their marriages to grow stale and weak and cheap. There are spouses who have fallen from the throne of adoration and worship and are in the low state of mere joint occupancy of the home, joint sitters at the table, joint possessors of certain things which cannot be easily divided. These people are on the path that leads to trouble. These people will do well to reevaluate, to renew their courting, to express their affection, to acknowledge kindnesses, and to increase their consideration so their marriage again can become beautiful, sweet, and growing." Spencer W. Kimball

"The best insurance against an unhappy or failed marriage is to make a commitment not only to the marriage, but, more important, to growth in the marriage." David K. Whitmer

"A strong marriage is not something that once built, can be neglected; rather it must be nurtured daily." Kevin Galbraith