Today in America we celebrated the holiday of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Today in Israel another holiday was celebrated, Tu Bishvat, or the New Year for Trees. Tu Bishvat is celebrated on the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Shevat when sap begins to flow in the trees.
It is curious that the trees are celebrated at a time when they are just starting to come out of winter dormancy and have not yet even borne the fruit that is eaten in celebration.
But what is being celebrated is not the product of the tree, but the trees’ potential.
When we eat the sweet juice of the fruit, we are enjoying the outcome of many months and even years of growth and nurturing that took place in order for that fruit to exist.
Just as with our children, we put in years and years of effort, sweat, and tears to give them strong roots and branches that will grow and spread and hopefully nourish others one day as well. We do this without any guarantees of our efforts. Will they bear sweet fruit or not? Who knows? But as parents, we see their potential and spend our lives helping them achieve it.
We are also like trees, waking each day with a brand new opportunity in front of us. There is so much potential in the hours that lie ahead. We are given everything we need to reach those possibilities. Will we make the best use of our day or waste it? Will we spend those hours moving towards our potential or further away?
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had a dream. He saw the potential in all human beings. He saw their goodness, their connection, their humanity. And he believed that others could see it and live it as well.
Let’s take a moment and celebrate the potential of all of us, as parents, as spouses, as children, as friends, as neighbors, as humans.
Let’s also hope and dream that we may bring this potential to fruition.
