Two trees grow together on the same hillside. They draw their sustenance
from the same soil, yet each has its own peculiar bark, leaf, and fruit.
Both exude gum, yet one gum contains arabic acid while the other contains
none. The difference is not in the food they consume nor the environment
in which they grow. It is in some hidden fact which determines the nature
of each.
Two animals feed in the same pasture. They eat the same food and graze
upon the same kind of grass. Yet one is covered with hair and the other
with wool. The difference is not in the material of which their coats are
made. It is in some unseen force which determines their natures.
Two human beings grow up together in the same home. They eat together from
the same food at the same table. They have the same parental guidance.
They enjoy the same physical and social environment. Yet one becomes a
good man and the other a bad one. The same sustaining properties have
entered into their making, but in one they bring forth good fruit, while
in the other they bring forth evil fruit.
No tree ever violates the dictates of that hidden force. Its fruitage
never varies. One could not change its output unless he could first change
its nature. Men do not gather grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles.
Fortunately, however, this rule does not hold in the case of men. The
nature of a man can be altered or reversed.
This can be done because it is possible to change the heart, and from the
heart are the issues of life. Nothing can change the determinant in a
tree, but there is a power that can change it in a life. This is because
a man has a will, while a tree has none. It is the power of the will to
resist or submit.