Figs and the Labor of Love

March 20, 2022 | By Paul Georgoulis H‘22

I had a nice fresh fig the other day—fresh, not dried, which is always a treat for me. It reminded me a bit of a passage from the Gospel of Luke, wherein Jesus gives a parable about a barren fig tree. In the parable, a landowner tells his gardener to chop down a fig tree because it has yet to bear fruit. The gardener replies that he thinks that the owner should wait one more year, and allow him to water and fertilize the tree. If the tree still does not bear fruit next year, the gardener says, he will cut it down.