This Long Time

The phrase “this long time” caught my attention today as I read the allegory of the olive tree in Jacob 5. The Lord of the vineyard said to the servant: “Take of the fruit thereof, and lay it up against the season, that I may preserve it unto mine own self; for behold, said he, this long time have I nourished it, and it hath brought forth much fruit…. Wherefore, I said unto thee, I have nourished it this long time, and thou beholdest that it hath brought forth much fruit…. But, behold the tree. I have nourished it this long time, and it hath brought forth much fruit; therefore, gather it, and lay it up against the season, that I may preserve it unto mine own self…. Behold, this have I planted in a good spot of ground; and I have nourished it this long time…. And the Lord of the vineyard said: Behold, this long time have we nourished this tree, and I have laid up unto myself against the season much fruit” (v20-25, 31, italics added). The Lord labored for a long time nourishing, and pruning, and digging, and dunging the tree. While surely the Lord can effectuate change that is quick and powerful, I believe that more often the kind of change that we each need takes “a long time” and He patiently works with us to eventually bring forth the fruit of salvation. In this allegory the Lord labored continually and patiently for a long time without trying to rush the development of the tree.

                To me this idea helps us to see how we should approach our own spiritual growth as well as that of those over whom we have stewardship. To come unto the Lord, to truly repent and change, to develop spiritual gifts, and to become more like Him is not an event that we can rush through. Rather, real change and growth is a process that takes a long time. The prophet Zenos chose to use a tree to represent the House of Israel, and living thing that develops slowly and imperceptibly. Alma similarly used the symbol of a tree to speak about developing faith: “But if ye will nourish the word, yea, nourish the tree as it beginneth to grow, by your faith with great diligence, and with patience, looking forward to the fruit thereof, it shall take root…. And because of your diligence and your faith and your patience with the word in nourishing it, that it may take root in you, behold, by and by ye shall pluck the fruit thereof…. Then, my brethren, ye shall reap the rewards of your faith, and your diligence, and patience, and long-suffering, waiting for the tree to bring forth fruit unto you” (Alma 32:41-43). The growth of the tree and brining forth fruit takes diligence, patience, faith, and long-suffering, all words that connote the need to continue “a long time” before the results we want may be obtained. Living in a day of same-day delivery and instant downloads and immediate streaming, we are not prone to want to wait patiently for what we want. But in spiritual things, and in all development that really matters, we simply must work at it for a long time. In the most recent general conference Elder Holland used Alma’s teachings to encourage faith and patience in us as we seek to progress: “The path to holiness and happiness here and hereafter is a long and sometimes rocky one. It takes time and tenacity to walk it…. Many lessons are taught in this remarkable chapter [Alma 32], but central to them all is the axiom that the seed has to be nourished and we must wait for it to mature; we ‘[look] forward with an eye of faith to the fruit thereof.’ Our harvest, Alma says, comes ‘by and by.’ Little wonder that he concludes his remarkable instruction by repeating three times a call for diligence and patience in nurturing the word of God in our hearts, ‘waiting,’ as he says, with ‘long-suffering … for the tree to bring forth fruit unto you.’” As we work on that growth we desire in us and in those we love, we must remember that it takes “time and tenacity” to bear fruit. We must have patience and long-suffering, diligence and faith, and we may like the Lord of the vineyard have to nourish and dig and dung and prune “this long time” before the fruit we yearn to have will be developed.