12 LIKE A TREE 



the tree ; "you cannot see the whole of life until 

 you add to time eternity. Why so hurried? 

 Why so fretful? Why so anxious, that every 

 day shall see some great achievement? See to it 

 rather that every day shall see that life is main- 

 tained in its full tide so you shall grow ! Even 

 as I have grown !" 



Oh, the dignity, the dignity of soul of a great 

 tree ! Blessed is the man who is like a tree ! 



And now let me suggest a second lesson : the 

 great tree seems to have a certain indescribable 

 need of companionship. I know that there are 

 lonely trees, as there are lonely souls in the world ; 

 but a lonely tree is apt to be not a symmetrical 

 tree; to have a lonesome look, an unhappy look. 

 The tree that has grown splendid and symmet- 

 rical, is one that has grown in a group of its fel- 

 lows ; they need companionship ; they shelter each 

 other ; they sympathize with each other ; they help 

 each other; their roots are intertwined with each 

 other, and their lives and branches are interlaced 

 with each other; they live together for the good 

 of each other. So do men. There are lonely 

 souls, but they are unsymmetrical souls ; there are 

 lonesome souls, but they are for the most part 

 unhappy souls. God has set men in families, 

 that their roots, their character, may be inter- 

 twined with other characters. God has set men 

 in households, all the forthputting of life inter- 

 laced with each other; God has set us in groups, 



