I have a tree my garden. I chose it, I planted it, and I watch it. It grows very slowly, unlike some other plants (notably the weeds and the leylandii hedge) which grow much too quickly. My tree just gets on with things at its own pace, in its own way.
But it is growing. I know, because it has new leaves every year; I know because the trunk is just a little bit bigger this year than it was last year.
When Jesus used plant-parables (vines, wheat, fig tree) to help explain the Kingdom of God, the plants not only grow, but produce fruit. From the plants point of view, fruit is all about the next generation; from the farmer or forager’s point of view, fruit is all about food – the overabundance of what grows, becoming a blessing for birds, animals and humans.
Jesus said [to Simon Peter] “Feed my sheep” John 20:17.
I haven’t been eating the ‘helicopter’ samara from my Acer Griseum, but I read somewhere that you can… Raymond.