Taking Hold

A wise old teacher was taking a stroll through a forest with a curious youth by his side. The tutor stopped and pointed to four plants close at hand. The first was a tiny sprout, just coming out of the earth. The second, a little bigger, had rooted itself firmly in the fertile soil. The third was a small shrub. The fourth had grown into a well-developed tree.

The teacher instructed, “Pull up this first plant.” The youth pulled it up easily with just his fingers. “Now pull up the second.” The boy obeyed, and with slight effort, the plant came up, root and all. “And now the third.” The boy pulled with one hand, then the other, but it would not come. The he took both hands, and the plant yielded to all his strength. “And now,” said the master, “Try the fourth.” The youth grasped the trunk with all his might, but hardly a leaf shook. “I cannot even move it!” he exclaimed. “Just so, my son” said the teacher, “with bad habits. When they are young and small, we can cast them out, but when they are fully grown, they are hard to uproot.”