Once upon a time, three cedars were born in the beautiful groves of Lebanon. Cedars grow very slowly, and these three trees have spent centuries thinking about life and death, about nature and humanity.
They saw how the envoys of King Solomon arrived on the land of Lebanon and how then, in battles with the Assyrians, this land was washed with blood. They saw their sworn enemies face to face: Jezebel and the prophet Elijah. During their reign the alphabet was invented; they marveled as caravans laden with colorful fabrics passed by.
And one fine day the cedars decided to talk about the future.
“After all that I have seen,” said the first, “I would like to turn into a throne on which the most powerful king on earth will sit.”
“And I would like to become part of something that will transform Evil into Good forever,” said the second.
“As for me,” said the third, “I would like people, looking at me, to remember God every time.”
Years and years passed, and finally, woodcutters appeared in the forest. They cut down the cedars and sawed them.
Each cedar had its own cherished desire, but reality never asks what we dream about. The first cedar became a barn, and a manger was built from the remains of its wood. The second tree was used to make a rough rustic table, which was later sold to a furniture dealer.
The logs from the third tree could not be sold. They were sawn into planks and left to be stored in a warehouse in a big city.
The three cedars complained bitterly: “Our wood was so good! But no one found a worthy use for it.”
Time passed, and then one day, on a starry night, a certain married couple, who could not find shelter for themselves, decided to spend the night in a barn built from the wood of the first cedar. The wife was pregnant. That night she gave birth to a son and laid him in a manger on soft hay.
And at that very moment the first cedar realized that its dream had come true: it served as a support for the greatest King of the Earth.
A few years later, in a modest village house, people sat down at a table made of second cedar wood. Before they began to eat, one of them said a few words over the bread and wine that were on the table.
And then the second cedar realized that at that very moment it served as a support not only for the cup of wine and the dish of bread, but also for the union between Man and the Divine.
The next day, a cross was made from two boards of the third tree. A few hours later they brought a wounded man and nailed him to the cross. The third cedar was horrified by its fate and began to curse its cruel fate.
But not even three days had passed before he realized the fate prepared for him: the man hanging on the cross became the Light of the World. The cross, made from the wood of this cedar, turned from an instrument of torture into a symbol of triumph.
Thus the fate of the three Lebanese cedars was fulfilled: as always happens with dreams, their dreams came true, but in a completely different way than they imagined.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru