Wednesday, March 26
Temple Grandin
Jesus told this parable: “A man owned a fig tree planted in his vineyard. He came looking for fruit on it and found none. He said to his gardener, ‘Look, I’ve come looking for fruit on this fig tree for the past three years, and I’ve never found any. Cut it down! Why should it continue depleting the soil’s nutrients?’ The gardener responded, ‘Lord, give it one more year, and I will dig around it and give it fertilizer. Maybe it will produce fruit next year; if not, then you can cut it down.’” – Luke 13:6-9
Have you ever heard of Dr. Temple Grandin? I recently watched a movie about her and was fascinated. Now I have seen a children’s book that really does a good job of telling about the life of Temple. (The Girl Who Thought in Pictures: The Story of Dr. Temple Grandin by Julia Finley Mosca, illustrated by Daniel Rieley. Published by The Innovation Press, 2017. There is a read-along on YouTube.)
In the story of the fig tree the vineyard owner could not see the beauty of the tree as a tree. He thought the tree was not good because it produced no figs. The gardener knew that the tree had worth simply because it was a tree.
Many people thought Temple had no worth. She could not speak at three years old. She had temper tantrums. When she got old enough to go to school she threw a book at a child and was asked to leave the school. Some doctors wanted her institutionalized, because she would never be normal. Her Mother refused to listen and moved Temple to a new school where a teacher found a way to unlock what was inside of Temple. Temple also went to stay with an aunt on a farm for a while There she learned to pay attention to the cows. Temple has autism and like the fig tree she needed more time to produce. Today Temple is a professor of animal science at Colorado State University and is a scientist, inventor and autism spokesperson.
Heavenly Father: Thank you for all of the different gifts and talents you have given us. Help us to remember that even though we are all different, we are all worthy of your grace and love. In your name we pray, Amen.
Daphne G. Grady