The Fruit of the Gospel

Far up in the deserted wastelands of the north, there once existed a great city. This was before the time when cities combined to make states and states to make nations; rather, the city of Norhama existed alone and unchallenged. It was situated on the crest of a very large hill, from which the townspeople could see the entirety of the surrounding countryside. However, it was not the city itself that attracted the wonder and admiration of the rest of the world, but rather the tree that existed within.

Indeed, at the top of the hill, in the very center of the city, lived an ancient fruit tree. There were two distinguishing features that set this tree apart as unique: the bark, and the fruit. The outer bark was a brilliant white; whiter than any white ever seen before by man. It was even reported that it was impossible to mark the tree in any way; either the skin was too hard, or the brilliance of the bark just covered up any imperfection. The fruit was also famed for its taste and its astonishing effects. Imagine a mix of strawberry and mango-melon; not the fake plasticized flavors you taste in the genetically engineered foods of today, but the sweet perfection of a Norhaman fruit. The effect of the fruit was to prolong life for those who tasted its sweet nectar; indeed, a few of those living in the city could faintly remember the good king who had given the fruit tree to Norhama so many long centuries ago. The townspeople loved their tree; thus, they had named it Angelion, their word for “hope”.

When the people of Norhama had received the generous gift from the king, they had initially been very liberal in giving the fruit to everybody who wanted some. Another astonishing facet of Angelion was that it never ran out of fruit, no matter how many were picked. To the people, this was a sign that the tree was setting an example of generosity that they needed to follow. Thus, for the first few centuries, the city grew very rapidly as many were taken into immortality. Rituals were formed around the tree so that all who needed the fruit could partake. During this time, the other cities scorned and mocked Norhama, for they thought that the idea of immortality was a lie. They besieged Norhama many times in order that they might try the fruit for themselves; many Norhamans died, but the city never surrendered. Despite the hardships, the numbers of those eating the fruit increased by leaps and bounds.

However, over the years, changes started to take place and small rifts began to form in the relationships of the Norhamans. Instead of being generous with the fruit, they began to lean towards stinginess. Reasoning that the fruit was very special, the elders of the city council decided that the tree needed to be guarded so that not just anybody could enter and eat. It was not as though the demand for the fruit had decreased in any way, the elders just decided to limit the amount of fruit that could be eaten per year. Those with the most money usually ended up being the recipients of the quota, while the poor suffered from the lack of the taste of the sweet nectar. The elders also devised complicated rituals in order that those who were going to eat would be “pure” enough to receive such an honor.

This continued for roughly three centuries, until men rose up to speak out against the tyranny of the elders. They claimed that the tree had been given many centuries ago by a gracious and generous king who had wanted everybody to have a chance at the fruit, not just the few elect who were under the graces of the council. These “reformers”, as they were called, took some of the fruit, and planted a new orchard so that the common man would be able to eat as well. During the reign of the council, the poorer townspeople had begun to lose faith in the abilities of the tree, and many had forgotten about the fruit altogether. However, when the new orchard took hold, the poorer classes began to increase in number. As they were refreshed by the fruit, they were able to see hope for the future; thus, they were more generous towards each other, and the general standard of living rose throughout the lower parts of the city.

However, the council was not happy about the new orchard that was exposing the falsity of their own claims. The emphasis had been placed more on the name of Norhama, than on the fruit itself; the tree was seen as a means to the ends of being a Norhaman. As you can imagine, the council was provoked to jealousy that the townspeople had lost their awe for elder’s customs, and so they tried to destroy the new saplings. However, no matter how hard they tried, the new traditions continued to grow in number and boldness. One reformer even had the gall to nail a picture of Angelion on the door of the council.

Yet, the council still had many under their power, and so the persecution began to take its toll. Because of this, many of the new reformers took their families and seeds from the trees to set off and start a new city. They founded Ecclesy, the town that eventually turned into a roaring miniature nation. Many of the reformers disagreed on how much they should separate from Norhama, and so different groups of Ecclesians were formed. The rest of the cities in the area noticed the split between the “tree-cities”, as they were called, and they took interest in how Ecclesy would turn out.

As the centuries passed along, both cities continued to grow; the beliefs of the council of Norhama were attractive because people wanted the feeling of knowing they had passed through the rigorous rituals in order to eat the fruit; Ecclesy grew because they taught that the fruit was free to all who wanted to partake. Many Ecclesians believed this so strongly, they would take seeds from the trees to start new orchards in other cities.

However, the many original groups of Ecclesians eventually formed into three main factions. The first believed that the original rituals were very important and they were better than the other cities because they had the fruit. This group took great pains to guard their fruit, and in doing so they forgot to take care of the trees; thus, the fruit lost its abilities over time due to the lack of attention. The second group believed that the fruit was no different from a regular apple or orange, and so they also did not take care of their trees. The result was the same. The third group saw the trees and the fruit as a gracious gift from a good king, and so they tended to their trees. They were very open about what they believed and they welcomed anybody to share in their amazing gift. The third group was known throughout the area for their kindness and graciousness towards outsiders; yet, they remained unwavering in their convictions.

Eventually, the king returned from his land across the sea. He immediately saw what had happened in his absence and he was deeply troubled by the many factions that had sprung up. By this time, the original tree, Angelion, had also lost its power. Ironically, from what the records show, all four of the main groups believed they would be the king’s favorite when he returned. Ironically, they were all wrong. The king had come to claim those who had remained faithful to the fruit through everything that had happened in his absence. However, all were astonished when the faithful were seen to be picked from every group. The King explained, “Did you not know? The main object was not the rituals or even the trees themselves. The emphasis was always to bring your thoughts back to me. I left the tree here as a gift to you so that you would remember me for when I returned. The fruit is the essence of my being; when you disregarded my gift, you disregarded me. I also gave the gift in order that you would have something to give to others; those of you who believed only you were worthy of my favor were wrong. I extended the gift to you in order that you would extend it to others in the same manner. Come, my beloved, let us leave.”

After gathering his faithful, the king set off across the sea, leaving those who were left behind to wonder at how they had missed the king’s intentions.

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