the fig tree languisheth...

The Bible sure mentions palm trees a lot.

I barely remember this part of my Lutheran elementary school education. In fact, what I remember most about my school Bible studies is the fact that my 6th grade teacher Mrs. Lange told me that I would burn in hell if I kept passing notes to David Bethke instead of concentrating on learning the genealogies of Genesis 5 and 11.

But that's a different blog post, altogether.

I take a lot of pictures of palm trees, as many of you may have noticed. (Or, to quote my dear Shanna, "There she goes again with another old car or palm tree!") One can only say so much about Los Angeles' most iconic and ubiquitous tree. Occasionally one must look for quotes to, you know, add something to the conversation.

Quotes like this:

“The vine is dried up, and the fig tree languisheth; the pomegranate tree, the palm tree also, and the apple tree, even all the trees of the field, are withered: because joy is withered away from the sons of men.”

Yeah, the Bible made palm trees seem about as boring as all the verses about who begat whom. Let's try another one: “They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good.” I think whoever added that to the Bible had been sitting out in the desert sun for too long.

There's always this: “How fair and how pleasant art thou, O love, for delights! / This thy stature is like to a palm tree, and thy breasts to clusters of grapes.”

Now, we're talking! I definitely didn't study that part of the Bible in Mrs. Lange's class!

(Next time I post a palm tree shot, I'm going to make Shanna come up with a quote for me...)