In the Allegory of the Olive Tree, after grafting wild branches into the tame olive tree and then waiting for a period of time, the Lord of the vineyard and his servant return to check on the tree. They find that it is producing a variety of fruit, none of which was good. The Lord of the vineyard then asks his servant what they should do, and the following conversation ensues:
Servant: “Behold, because thou didst graft in the branches of the wild olive tree they have nourished the roots, that they are alive and they have not perished; wherefore thou beholdest that they are yet good.”
Lord of the vineyard: “The tree profiteth me nothing, and the roots thereof profit me nothing so long as it shall bring forth evil fruit. Nevertheless, I know that the roots are good” (Jacob 5:34-36, italics added).
When a project you’re working on appears to be in chaos, or when a goal you’re pursuing seems increasingly unachievable, you might want to think about the roots. Is this a temporary issue, with conspicuous failures masking an underlying solid foundation, or does the problem run deeper? If the roots are bad, you may need to abandon or revise the goal, but if the roots are good, then you should probably keep working.
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland has cautioned us against giving up too easily on worthy efforts:
With any major decision there are cautions and considerations to make, but once there has been illumination, beware the temptation to retreat from a good thing. If it was right when you prayed about it and trusted it and lived for it, it is right now. Don’t give up when the pressure mounts. Certainly don’t give in to that being who is bent on the destruction of your happiness. Face your doubts. Master your fears. “Cast not away therefore your confidence.” Stay the course and see the beauty of life unfold for you.
“Cast Not Away Therefore Your Confidence,” Ensign, June 2000
A few years ago, as I was training for a marathon, I would reach out to a friend whenever I had a discouraging training run. He would always say, “A single data point is not a trend.” In other words, don’t read too much into the latest failure. Get up and try again. You are bound to have setbacks along the way, but don’t let those setbacks stop you from achieving a fundamentally good goal.
Today, I will trust the roots. When I encounter roadblocks, I will continue pushing forward, trusting that an effort built on a solid foundation will eventually succeed.