Gardener and the Grapevine

A grapevine says, in the early spring, "How glad I am to get through the winter! I shall have no more trouble now! Summer weather will come, and the garden will be very beautiful!"

But the gardener comes, and cuts the vine here and there with his knife. The twigs begin to fall, and the grapevine calls out, "Murder! What are you cutting me for?"

"Ah," says the gardener, "I do not mean to kill you. If I did not do this, you would be the laughingstock of all the other vines before the season is over."

Months go on and one day the gardener comes under the trellis, where the great clusters of grapes hang, and the grapevine says, "Thank you, sire, you could not have done anything so kind as to cut me with that knife."

Thus it is with the Cross we are called to carry.

No pruning, no grapes; no grinding mill, no flour; no battle, no victory; no cross, no crown.