Lent words - Day 7 ~ Fruit

Fruit has a positive vibe to me.

To bear fruit is to yield something positive after some period of continuous effort... something coming to fruition is a positive outcome based on a purpose and steady progress towards it.

In the bible I remember some situations where fruit featured... of course who could forget the Apple in the garden of Eden... and then there was the apple given to Jesus as a donation and gratefully received only for him to face a rebuke from another man who donated a large sum of money whom Jesus treated in the same manner... then there were the birds who never worry about money just trust that there will be enough and eat heartily on the berries provided freely by nature... and then of course ... you will reap that which you sow... which although not fruit... is about outcomes from action, fruits of our labours...

The apple in the garden of Eden... an interesting story... Do not eat from the tree in the middle of the Garden... sowing a seed of belief... snake comes along... that's rubbish you won't die. Eve disregards the word of God, falls out of line and eats the apple, and learns about shame. Some other punishments also handed out... man toiling the fields and pain in childbirth for women... So what is the message here? ... you can go against the word of God? (authority)... it probably won't kill you... but it is going to make life a heck of a lot tougher? Stay on the straight and narrow... who's straight and narrow? ... stop asking questions!

Loved the story of the man who donates an apple to Jesus... and then the rich man complaining that his donation of many denarii was far more valuable... Jesus of course explains that to give a fraction of your wealth to some good cause leaving yourself still untold wealth pales into insignificance compared to the compassion of one who shares all that he has... reminds me of stories of people living on the streets who when coming into possession of more than they need right now, happily pass on the excess to those around them... seems those with the least are the most compassionate.

Why are we bothering ourselves with money and possessions... look at the birds they care not about such things... rather they put their trust and faith that there will be enough. Isn't it odd that of all the species on this planet that man alone has created this means of exchange (money) which has the ability to provide just short term happiness or long term misery and subjugation. Our indebtedness now just another form of slavery that has been accepted and normalised but is nevertheless no less heinous.

How did we end up in this place? 

How did we end up believing that money is so important? How did we end up believing that we need to constantly chase money to buy more stuff... endlessly? How did we so easily lose sight of the importance of being happy? ... of discovering our gifts... or using our talents, skills and intelligence in the pursuit of serving others and bringing smiles to people's faces... how have we become so misguided and so easily led astray? There really is enough for us all... if we used out intelligence, innovation and creativity we could find a way to transform this planet to support the global population sustainably... we just have to think again... but not with profit, greed, control and a desire for power as the motive... New thinking please... on how we can innovate and create using the things freely received each day to live in harmony with this blue planet... our home.

Of course 'to fruit' is to begin the process of procreation... 

to ensure the survival of the species. There is something amazing about nature. A seed contains all the necessary information to produce life buried within the warmth of an outer coating rich with those nutrients required to get things moving along in those early days. Things were going along quite well until man came on the scene.

This brings us nicely onto the statement we 'reap what we sow'. 

Sow your seeds onto shallow soil... you will grow quickly but with no depth to the soil... when the pressure heats up... no substance... wither and die. So what has happened to the seeds of man? Fertile soil... poisoned soil... oil laden-ed soil...

If I look back over just my own short period of being here on the planet... I can remember how just in the example of goods manufacturing we have behaved like a virus... chasing low cost labour (exploitation) around the globe in pursuit of profit... first it was Japan, then Hong Kong, then Taiwan, then Singapore, Thailand, Korea, India, China... with a smattering of the old eastern block thrown in for good measure.

We have behaved like a virus on this planet... populating, exhausting... and when there is nothing left, or more fertile soil elsewhere, moving on... some would say we enabled these areas to develop, created infrastructure... left them better than when we arrived. Did we? Polluted, capitalistic... focused on money, greed, control... destruction of community... abuse of nature... I wonder...

Well we are about to reap what we sowed alright... 

Are we ready for the biggest change in the history of the human race? ... it might be catastrophic climate issues... it might be war... it will definitely be a financial reset... there might be a huge culling of the human race... will it be easy? ... no... will we survive it? Yes...


This is our greatest chance to move on... and create the sustainable future for our species... let's hope we all have our chance to play our part... or we could just say... how can I help? What can I do? ... or just get cracking finding our own way... there's a stack of work to do.