Again and again, the thought has come back to me, “Besides, the man who plants because he will reap the harvest has no faith in life.” The fact is that much of life is made up of reaping where we have not sown and planting where we shall never reap…All of life is a planting and a harvesting. Years have passed since that sunny afternoon in LaGrange, Georgia, when those words were said. “But is that important? All my life I have eaten fruit from trees that I did not plant, why should I not plant trees to bear fruit for those who may enjoy them long after I am gone? Besides, the man who plants because he will reap the harvest has no faith in life.” “So you do not expect to live to see the trees reach sufficient maturity to bear fruit?” I asked. Finally he said, “These small trees are cheaper and I have very little money.” He fixed his eyes directly on my face, with no particular point of focus, but with a gaze that took in the totality of my features. “Why did you not select larger trees so as to increase the possibility of your living to see them bear at least one cup of nuts?” I asked. The little treelets were not more than two and a half or three feet in height. Further talk between us revealed that he was planting a small grove of pecan trees. He was an old man – as I discovered before our conversation was over, a full eighty-one years. Then he raised himself erect with all the slow dignity of a man who had exhausted the cup of haste to the very dregs. He was so busily engaged in his task that he did not notice my approach until he heard my voice. From Deep is the Hunger by Howard Thurman

Howard thurman deep is the hunger