The Little Fruit Tree in the Sun
bahaistories.com archive · Read original
When in Bahá'í history
In a talk at the Bahá’í House of Worship in Wilmette on 20 March 1974, the Hand of the Cause of God John Robarts said:
The essence of the message of every religion the world has known is the love of God. To this end, Bahá’u’lláh has given us many beautiful writings. In one particularly apt Hidden Word, He said, "O Son of Being! Love Me, that I may love thee. If thou lovest Me not, My love can in no wise reach thee. Know this, O servant." I remember when I first read those words I thought it was a threat, that God was saying, "If you don't love Me, I won't love you." That didn't tally with my feelings about God. But one time a Bahá’í explained this Hidden Word through the analogy of a little fruit tree. If we put the tree out into the sunshine and the rain, he said, it would grow to become a beautiful tree and bring forth luscious fruit. But if we put it in a cold, dark cellar, it would die. The point: that the sun shines, the rain falls, whether that little plant is outside or not. All that little plant has to do is to get out into the sunshine and the rain and it will have all of the life-giving things that it needs to grow to be a robust, healthy tree. We are like that. Mankind is surrounded by the love of God always. It is there for us, and like the sun and the rain which continue pouring out their life-giving qualities whether the little tree is outside or not, the love of God surrounds us always. However, we have to do something about it. We have to get into the love of God. Jesus said, "Knock, and it shall be opened unto thee." We must knock. We must get into the sunshine of the love of God if we are to receive its benefit and we need it desperately. We need it now as we have never needed it before.
Source: John Robarts, "The Value of Prayer", talk at the Bahá’í House of Worship, Wilmette, 20 March 1974, printed in Bahá’í News, June 1974 (transcript at bahaitalks.blogspot.com).
Collected from bahaistories.com (Subject: nearness-god-transforming-lives).
Cite this story
Various. *bahaistories.com archive*. https://bahaistories.com/subject/nearness-god-transforming-lives
This story shares quotes with 1 other story
“O SON OF BEING! Love Me, that I may love thee. If thou lovest Me not, My love can in no wise reach thee. Know this, O servant.”
Also in
- Hidden Word, Arabic 5: Love Me, that I May Love Thee— Bahá'u'lláh, The Hidden Words
Record yourself reading this story
Recording stays on this device only. Nothing is uploaded.
Related stories
The Story of Saskatoon
A 1969 report from Canadian Bahá'í News on the Saskatoon community, where united prayer, a visit from Hand of the Cause John Robarts and a wave of young believers brought some seventy to eighty declarations in under two years.
The Missed Flight to Chicago
Hand of the Cause John Robarts told of a Toronto friend who prayed all the way to the airport, missed his flight to a Chicago wedding, and still arrived on time on another plane while the first was grounded in Detroit.
A Ladder to Heaven
John Robarts tells of friends who say they do not pray, and of a young man, sure God could never forgive him, who was comforted by the words “Prayer is a ladder by which everyone can ascend to heaven.”
As Important as Breathing
In a 1974 talk, Hand of the Cause John Robarts told the parable of a teacher who held a young man’s head under water to show him that prayer is as important as breathing.