The Apple Tree Song

As i was driving into school this cold January morning. I had the radio dialed to the local old folks station. Usually there is a talk radio show on (call in) that i love to listen to, but this morning was religious shows. As we all know, the old folk love their religious shows almost as much as their rum. i usually turn off the religious shows, but today i listened as there was a song on that i was interested in. i like listening to preachers tell stories. Not biblical stories, as that is just weak. you are not trying when your sermon is filled with rehashed stories of Jesus and his crew. Seriously, try harder. a good preacher relates the word of God to the common folk in a sense that they can relate to. Using everyday stories about everyday people that have a meaning or a lesson woven into the plot. Now this song I heard this morning had such a story in it so I listened to it. This was a song called “the apple tree song” by the Kingsmen. The story was like this:

A man (a preacher) is traveling on a train. He walks from car to car to look for a seat. He finds one next to a younger man. He sits down and starts to talk to the man. Not for any reason, just to pass the time. So he talks about the weather, sports, just anything to strike up a conversation. After a while he realizes that this man is not responding to him at all. He looks closer and he notices that this man is crying, he can see the tears rolling down his face. He leans closer to the crying man and says, “ Son, I am a preacher, and if there is anything I can do to help you with your sorrow, I will. Please talk to me.”

The young man then tells the preacher that he had a troubled childhood and was terrible to his parents. He had a lot of anger as a child and fought with is parents constantly. It got so bad that he even struck his father in the face with his fist. It was at this time that his parents told him he had to go, that there was nothing they could do with him anymore. So he left. He said
“preacher, I traveled across this country back and forth for many years until a few months ago when I gave my life and soul to Jesus. After that, things have changed. I am a new man. I have written my parents to tell them that I am coming home, This is why I am on this train. You see, my family has lived next to these tracks as long as they have been here, in a big white house. And in the backyard of that house is a big apple tree. So I wrote in my letter that if I was welcome, my daddy should tie a white rag to the top of that tree. I would see it from the train and know I was welcome. Preacher, I want to go home so bad, but I am afraid to look out that window. Would you look out that window for me and tell me what you see. “

The preacher looked and then a huge grin appeared on his face. He said,
“son, you have nothing to worry about, for that apple tree is in full bloom, it is covered in white rags, and standing underneath it are you folks holding a big old white bed sheet”.

It was a song so they started singing again at this point. There was no discussion of the story. I guess the moral of this story was that Jesus guided him home and saved him.

Religion is fun.

AK