A Walk Through the Orchard

Al and Joe took were neighbors and were in the habit of walking each day after work along the road next to the orchard. They each had their own path but sometimes their paths crossed. They would speak politely but walk on. It just so happened that one day they met along the road and fell into step. From that day on it seemed they were always walking together and so it became a routine they both enjoyed. Aside from their daily walk, they seldom saw each other.

Early one Saturday morning they got to discussing how lovely the orchard looked with it’s ruby red apples among the green leaves. Joe stepped into the field to the nearest tree and looked up. “What a wonderful apple. It is the prettiest red I have ever seen. I bet it is so sweet and juicy.”

Al moved to get a look. “Well, I don’t know. It looks all right but you can never tell. I think the apples that come though my plant are the best looking in the world.”

“You work in an apple plant?” Joe looked quizzically at Al. “I didn’t know that.”

“Well, it’s a fruit and juice plant but I am an apple inspector. It is my job to inspect every apple that comes through the plant to insure that only the best apples are allowed into our packages or juice.”

“Apple inspector? Wow. You mean that if it doesn’t pass your inspection, it won’t be in the juice?”

Al pulled his shoulders back, hitched his belt and sniffed. “Yep. That’s the way it works. It is my job to make sure the bad apples are identified. Bad apples are dumped.”

“So, what do you look for?”

For a minute Al pondered. “Well, we look for bruising, cuts, scars, color, and bugs.”

“Hmmm. Well, all these apples look fine to me.”

Al shook his head. “You can’t tell just by glancing at the tree. No, you gotta examine it real close to find any flaws. I mean, you can’t find scars and bruising just by looking at the tree from here, now can you?”

Joe hesitated and looked the tree over. “Well, no, but why would bruising, scars and cuts be on he fruit that is still on the tree? I mean, I would think that would only happen in storms or if the fruit gets knocked off someway and lands on the ground. But even then, it might still be good to eat. If you don’t mess with the fruit it won’t get bruised up. Fruit on the tree just needs to be picked and eaten.”

“Only perfect apples get in my juice.”

“Well, why would color matter? I mean a good apple can be any color.”

“Color could indicate ripeness. We want apples that are just the right stage of ripeness. I mean the juice could be bitter if the apple is not ripe enough and the taste might be a little off if an apple is too ripe. No, I have to be real careful about color, too.”

Joe studied the tree. “I still say these apples look great. I didn’t eat this morning and I am kind of hungry. My mouth is watering just looking at them.” Joe reached up to the apple nearest him. “Just look how plump it is and how shiny.”

Al shook his head, “I’m telling you, Joe, unless they are inspected by a trained eye you shouldn’t mess with them. There might be something wrong with this tree.”

Joe hesitated but pulled the apple off and sniffed it. “It smells good, too.” He bit into it eagerly. He closed his eyes, “Mmmmmmm, Al, that is the best apple I ever ate. I am so hungry. Try one, I’m sure you’ll like it.”

“Not me. If I want apples I get ‘em at the supermarket . . . after they have been inspected. Besides, I don’t really care for them much. I see so much bad fruit it kinda turns you off them after awhile.”

Al and Joe resumed their walk. Joe munched on his apple in silence for a long time. Finally, he said, “Al, you ever think about another line of work?”

“No. Why?”

“Well, why do we need fruit inspectors?”

“So, unsuspecting folks don’t get sick from eating bad fruit?”

“Don’t you think a person could inspect their own fruit and determine if it is bad or not?”

Al didn’t respond directly but said, “Well, the owner might not be honest enough to admit he had bad fruit. Fruit inspectors are necessary to keep folks honest. We insure the safety of the innocent. Anyway, I’ve been doing this for 20 years. What else would I do?”

Joe munched his apple for a moment then a light seemed to go off in his face. He looked at Al and said, “Maybe you could GROW apples.”

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance . . . .” Galatians 5:22-23.

We have all read or heard that verse dozens of times but one Sunday morning as the Bible class teacher read, something went off in my mind that I can only describe as a small nuclear explosion. I was awestruck as a new understanding broke over me. As I hurried to write down the thoughts before they slipped away, I remembered something else. Several weeks earlier, on the preceding page of my notebook, I had made a few notes regarding another scripture.

“Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.” Matt. 7:20.

Weeks before those scribblings had led nowhere but that Sunday morning the pieces of the puzzle fell together perfectly and the picture that emerged was breathtaking. On Sunday night, while getting ready for bed, came the story A Walk Through the Orchard.

There is one basic question that we all ask when faced with the realization of eternity. “What must I do to be saved?” Most of us believe that we know the answer. But then, I took a walk through the Orchard.

In the Garden of Eden, Eve walked thorough the orchard and passed beautiful, sweet-smelling, fruit-filled trees. The fragrance of the ripe fruit permeated the air around her. But Eve didn’t’ stop and savor those fruits. Instead, she journeyed to the center of the Garden and looked on the one tree she had been forbidden. As she gazed at that fruit, a craving pulled at her soul and consumed her. Her mind registered the visual image of a tantalizing fruit. The image she saw answered three questions that her craving had provoked. She saw that the fruit was good for nourishment, it looked good, and it would make her a better person.

But Eve was not hungry. She had no reason to be. Nourishment was never truly a factor in her craving. There were thousands of trees in the garden from which to choose. She could have walked up to any other tree and picked the fruit of her choice. Any other fruit in the garden would have fulfilled her every need and she could have eaten as much as she wanted. In fact, all the other fruit in the garden would provide nourishment, it would look good, and it would make her a better person. She lied to herself. But, instead of walking away, she looked at the forbidden fruit, the bad fruit. She picked it, she ate it, and she died. We have all been inspecting fruit ever since and, like Eve, it is not because we are hungry.

In Mark 11:12 and Matt 21:17 is the story of a fig tree that Jesus approached in search of figs. When he saw the leaves but no figs he cursed the tree and the next day it was withered and dead. Interestingly, Mark is careful to note that it was not time for figs yet. So, Jesus cursed a tree that didn’t have fruit when He needed it. Jesus was hungry. Jesus was searching for good fruit. He needed something to eat right then, but the tree was bare. Because the tree did not provide for the need, he cursed it. And the tree died.

In A Walk Through the Orchard, Al and Joe marched along different paths for a time but eventually they fell into step. All along their way were trees filled with fruit. Al knew all about fruit. But Joe was hungry. Joe began to search for nourishment. And it is to the heavily laden trees along his path that he turned. He searched and satisfied his hunger with good fruit. But Al, who knew so much about fruit and had fruit all around him every day, had none to share and had no desire for good fruit. In fact, Al was afraid to eat any of the fruit that hung within his reach because he had not inspected it. Al viewed his lot in life as a protector of the innocent. It was his job to root out the rotten fruit. He lied to himself. In reality, he wasn’t protecting anyone.

There are Christians who feel a need, who believe it is their job, to inspect the fruit of others. In reality, they are searching for that which is missing in their own lives. They have no fruit to fulfill the needs of those seeking nourishment nor are they seeking nourishment for themselves. They don’t desire fruit anymore. All their time is spent on inspecting, searching for the bad fruit, not producing. They are barren and only by pulling the fruit off others, do they feel useful.

The problem is, when you start handling fruit, you damage it. You leave bruises, scars, and wounds from all the rough handling. Sometimes, the fruit will be so ready to eat that it can be easily knocked off the tree or bruised. Fruit that is knocked on the ground may never be eaten because it is so badly damaged from the fall. As a result, someone will go hungry because the fruit that was there to nourish has been destroyed.

Christians are NOT called to be fruit inspectors. Jesus never suggested that. At the time Jesus stated Matt 7:20, the disciples were not born again; they were not yet Christians. Jesus was talking to sinners and warning them of false prophets. He was telling sinners that if they were hungry there would be signs telling them where to get nourishment. Later, when he cursed the fig tree, he gave a profound example on the fate of those who fail to feed the hungry. The hungry are supposed to be the fruit inspectors. As Christians, we are expected to have the fruit available to feed the hungry. If we don’t, we will die.

I grew up hearing about winning souls but I never heard advice on exactly how one is to do that in a world where no one wants to listen. And suddenly, in one awe-inspiring moment and with brilliant clarity, I knew. It is the fruit that feeds the hungry. Fruit saves a dying world from starvation. Fruit sustains the weak. Fruit provides nutrients for growth. Fruit answers a craving for sweetness in a bitter world. We can preach a thousands sermons, recite the entire Bible on a street corner, but if there is no fruit hanging out there in the branches, the hungry will look elsewhere to be fed. And so, as I sat through that Sunday morning service, I had an overwhelming desire for fruit. I wanted it so badly I could taste it.

I found myself ashamed. I realized that far too often I spend time inspecting the other trees in the orchard for bad fruit and not worrying about whether or not I am producing good fruit. How many have come by needy, looking for nourishment and gone away hungry because they found nothing. God help me! I want fruit, so much fruit that the boughs break under the weight of it, so much that the fragrance fills the air around me. And I want to be hungry! I want to see a starving world fed with the fruit that satisfies all hunger. Winning the lost is not done with pretty speeches but rather by feeding starving souls. I don’t want to be a fruit inspector. I want to be a producer of fruit. God give me fruit so that anyone who takes a walk through the orchard can be fed!

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” Galatians 5:22

Sunday Morning

I am going to CHURCH! Yea! I have not been in two weeks and I need to go.

I'm telling you, I don't know how any person can say they are a Christian and not go to church! People who don't eat waste away and die. The food is on the table and the table is the church. If you don't go to the table, you aren't eating. My guess is you aren't praying much.

"But I don't like the people there." "My church is nature." "I don't think you have to go to church to live for God."

The Word of God says to not forsake the assmebling of yourelves together. That means you are not to neglect going where other Christians are assembled to worhsip. Church is not about YOU. It is about a mass worship of your creator. It is not to give YOU glory but to join in a mass of people giving God glory. You don't have to bother with one person there. You aren't there to make friends. You aren't there to be special. You aren't there to do anything but give God worship. If you can't do that in a public place, with a group of other believers, I'm sorry. I don't believe you will make it to heaven because the Bible says there is a number that no man can number who will be in one place crying Holy, Holy, Holy to God. Since you don't think joining other worshipers is necessary, I doubt God will hold you too it but where are you going once you leave this world? Heaven is filled with worshipers.

Hell is filled with people who worshiped another god. A lot of them didn't think worship of the eternal God was necessary either. Their church was the world, nature, the bars, the job, the games, etc. Now they get to spend eternity listenting to the sound of a numberless mass shouting praises to the God they either didn't believe in or that they didn't think needed worship. And the cry in that place will be deafening and yet unheard in by those worshiping God. The sound or praises will drown out any crys of torment.

New Interest

I've put up another module called History Pages. This one is strictly for historical papers I've written. I hold a B.A. in history and I did a lot of research in college. From that I wrote numerous papers that I really liked writing. I am putting these up to share but they are open to contacts only. Hope everyone understands why.

The weekend is upon us and I for one and thrilled. What a messy week. I've been battling a headache since last Wednesday. It has one several times. Right now, it is better and I am taking advantage of it by posting. Not sure how long I will have this respite.

There is ice everywhere except the streets. They are pretty much clear now. My yard crunches when I walk in it and my driveway (gravel) is a sheet of ice that at any moment, may cost me a bone or two.

I shall try and write a bit more this weekend but I am really wanting to use the time when I don't have a headache to write Mist. Take care, stay warm, and enjoy your weekend.

A Writer's Life for Me?

I finished posting another book to a private blog. I put up my NaNoWriMo novel "Shakedown". This was my first year reaching the 50,000 words goal and my second year to participate in the event. Ah am sew proud of mahself! And I am so looking forward to November 2008! I hope some of you will take the challenge and join me. Chris, ya with me?

I like putting my psuedo-novels in blog form. I've discovered it makes it so easy to work with to have it there. Particularly when I have a willing victim... um... volunteer in Alice.

Actually, I haven't asked Alice to proof Shakedown. She is working on reviewing Mist for inconsistencies and incongruities. Well, she's been reading along from the beginning so I think she will have no problem. I am working on finishing it so I can then sit back and work out the kinks she finds. She did volunteer to do that. Well, truthfully, she told me she was already doing it and she'd let me know when she was done.

After I finished posting Shakedown, I realized that this is also a pretty good story. I was a bit shocked. It was another bugger to write. I hated it while I wrote it. Probably because I was forcing myself to do it and like a recalcitrant child, I was determined to dislike what was good for me. While posting, I found myself reading it and since it has been three months, some of my bias has receeded. Shakedown has potential.

Now, for those who have been keeping count, I now have four potential unfinished novels on my hands, all over 50,000 words. Tell me why I do not have a finished novel? Alice keeps asking me that. Nancy asked me that. {sigh}

I don't know. Could it be all the stress that keeps me off track? Adult children pulling me in a dozen different direction? A job I truly don't like most of the time but which pays me very well and therefore, since I like to eat, I can't quit? Problems with pain that I can't fix?

I can honestly say that when I posted Mist and several of the girls were reading it, and demanding (very loudly) more, it was much easier to write. Although some days my pain levels just overwhelmed me and so did all the other stuff. But I had to keep going or they would have hurt me! Sadly, I lost Nancy, one of my cheerleaders but I still have Alice and she's terrific. Keeps poking me with these sharp sticks. So, I am plugging away.

There are times this story stinks. If you read far enough back in the blogs, you will find I hated this story when it began several years ago. Really. It began as freewriting, just writing what popped into my head. Then, I became intrigued as to what that darn mist was and how it worked. Then I really hated it because I saw NO point in the story. But slowly, thanks to all those pokes, I've begun to see beyond the Mist a bit and it makes a sort of sense. I don't know that I will ever like this story. But I think I'll write it.

So, with that said, I am exceedingly tired. The cold is almost gone but it has left me absolutely drained. I've been tired for hours now but I wrote a bit on mist, posted the last of Shakedown, and wrote this post as well.

Ah, a writer's work is never done. Thank goodness!

Monday Morning Musings

I am up late. . . or early depending on how you view these things. I have lain on the sofa for about two days with the most hideous upper respiratory bug. At least long enough to watch the Kingdom Hospital series on DVD. Yep. I've been so sick with this cold. Only tonight did I begin to feel human again.

I've coughed for three days and my head hurt with every cough. I didn't sleep well for two nights and so today, I slept half the day. I am going to bed soon and I am hoping for a better night tonight and a much better day tomorrow. I go back to work on Tuesday and I really hate that my whole 4 day weekend was ruined but I am also grateful that I didn't have to work Friday with this mess. I have a tone of stuff to get done before Friday!

I've visited some blogs and done some writing but ultimately, I was so sick that sitting here was misery and I finally gave it up and made me a bed on the sofa. I either slept or watched television.

I've got a lovely note from Alice on inconsistencies in Mist. She is starting from the beginning with a fine toothed comb and will be sending me a list of items that pose problems in continuity. I've been wanting to do this but when you are writing it you try very hard not to go back until you get it all down. This will help me when I start editing. I'm getting nervous, yall. But I feel very comforted knowing Alice is doing this. Now, i can focus on the "rest of the story" while she is getting me preped for rewrite. Joy, joy!

O.k. time to stop. I believe it is late/early enough to warrent a trip to bed. I hope my long afternoon sleep has not caused a problem. I do not want to sleep tomorrow! I'd like to do some things. Finishing my taxes would be good. And organizing some things too. The weather has been monsterous and if it is not to bad going out would be rather nice. We'll see.

Hope you all have a good holiday if you are off for President's Day. I love America. We have so many celebrations!