Trees in Winter

He showed me many trees with no leaves on them. They looked dried up to me, since they were all alike. And he said to me, “Do you see these trees?” “I see them, sir,” I said. “They are all alike, and dried up.” “These trees you see,” he answered, “are the people who live in this age.” “Then why are they as good as dried up, sir,” I said, “and all alike?” “Because in this age,” he said, “neither the righteous nor the sinners are plain to see; they are all alike. For this age is winter to the righteous, and they are not plain to see, living as they do among sinners. For just as in winter the trees that have dropped their leaves are all alike, and it is not plain which of them are dried up and which are alive, so in this age neither the righteous nor the sinners are plain to see, but they are all alike.” [a]