What We Take for Granted
A small, charming museum is about a ten-minute walk from my home. On a hill in its spacious garden stand two ginkgo trees. Growing so close together that they look like a single tree, they tower majestically as though reaching for the sky. The sight of them shimmering beneath the clear autumn sky fills me with joy. Especially at sunset, when their yellow leaves flutter in the crisp breeze against the red glow of the evening sky, the scene looks like a painting.
Last autumn, too, I looked forward to seeing the ginkgo trees turn a brilliant yellow. While chatting with friends at a newly opened cafe below the hill, I kept telling them how beautiful the trees would be once their leaves changed color. One week passed, then another, but the leaves remained green. I assumed the weather was simply not cold enough yet and took it for granted that they would eventually turn yellow. Then one day, a sudden cold snap brought bitter winds, and all the leaves fell while they were still green.
Leaves are said to change color in autumn because falling temperatures and reduced sunlight prevent enough water and nutrients from reaching them, causing the chlorophyll to break down. Last year, however, the weather remained mild well into late autumn, with little difference between daytime and nighttime temperatures. The leaves stayed green, still rich in water and nutrients, until a sudden cold snap caused them all to fall. The brilliant autumn colors I had always taken for granted were, in fact, the result of sunlight, wind, and trees coming together in just the right balance.
It occurred to me that even the familiar scenes we pass by every day are not something to take for granted, and my thoughts suddenly turned to my mother. She always prepared delicious meals for my father, my younger sibling, and me, taking everyone’s tastes into account. It was only as I grew older that I realized the food she had served us over the years was not necessarily what she herself liked. Because we all preferred different things, she rarely got to make what she wanted to eat, even though she was the one doing all the cooking. Behind every meal I had taken for granted lay my mother’s loving effort and sacrifice—her willingness to put her family’s tastes before her own.
Before I came to know Heavenly Father and Mother, I took both this world and my own existence for granted. Now that I have come to know God Elohim, I clearly understand that They allowed Their children, who had committed grievous sins in heaven, to be born on this earth so that we might have time to repent. They also provided us with everything we need—including water, air, soil, and sunlight—so that we could live on this earth.
Even at this very moment, Heavenly Parents continue to pour out Their love so that Their children may long for their heavenly home. It is because of Them that both this world and I exist. This is why we should always be grateful and humble. Perhaps this is the one thing we may truly take for granted.
