If we have a goal in life, work becomes like mountaineering. We have a view of the role we want to play: a vision of becoming a complete person, contributing both as an individual and one of humankind. One stands at the foot of the mountain and the climb seems easy; yet after the first few hours it becomes difficult, you get tired, you rest, then the path clears only to get difficult again before the summit — but what joy and what ecstasy on reaching the top where the canopy of Heaven is all-embracing.
We have the potential to become like a tree planted by the stream. Like the tree, we need nurturance — both of water and of sun if we are to blossom. We need nurturance from all the elements; without the soil, the sun, and the air, our food will not grow. We need nurturance from the plants. We all need human nurturance in the form of friendship and love, and we need God's own divine nurturance which empowers us to trust in the Author of creation.