But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. (Galatians 5:22-23)
“‘When you reap the harvest
of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings
of your harvest. Leave them for the poor and for the foreigner residing among
you. I am the Lord your God.’” (Leviticus 23:22)
Jumping from the idea of gifts
to that of fruits. As a gardener, I tend to think a little selfishly about
fruit. I want my crops for my use. I’m not trying to be mean, I’m just not
experienced enough to know how much is enough for me. I have told my north
neighbors that anything that grows through the fence is fair picking for them,
but not a lot is growing through the fence. But as I think about the passage
from Galatians, I wonder how much I tend to think that the fruit of the Spirit
is for my benefit. Do I have the same anxiety about harvesting love for my use
as I do my tomatoes?
That sounds more than a little
strange, but our society seems to be using that thinking. We have to love
ourselves, protect our peace, demand that others control themselves for our
comfort and to avoid offending us, etc. In the second passage above, the Law
lays out our harvesting process. We’re to leave gleanings of our harvest for
the poor and the foreigner. That means that whatever love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control we
harvest for our own benefit within our lives, we are to leave some for those
who aren’t ours and who lack. And the point was that the edges of the field
were to be left for them, so they didn’t have to work the whole field. That
means that no matter how good the fruit along the edge was, or how bad the rest
of the field was, you left it. You left some good stuff behind. On purpose. In
fact, you probably shouldn’t even bother to look at anything closer to the edge
than X feet (your choice, but don’t look!)
How do we do that with the fruit
of the Spirit? How do you leave your love around for someone else to pick? Part
of the problem is that the fruit of the Spirit isn’t so much like a fruit as it
is like a skill. It’s something you do that nourishes and helps others like
fruit would, and it can involve the physical, but it’s not physical itself. To
give love or any of the others involves you: your heart/will,
mind/thoughts/feelings, body, relationships, and spirit. You become the plant,
so to speak. The fruit comes from you.
So, the idea for contemplation
and consideration is, how can you allow others to “pick” love from you? Joy?
Peace? Any of the others? Let’s take it a notch up the ladder. How can you
nourish their love, joy, peace, etc.? It’s partly what they get from you. It
plants seeds in them. But that’s not metaphysical blather. It’s demonstrating
or teaching them. You nourish them with the fruit, not according to your
choices and preferences, but according to whatever they choose to glean. And
until you get used to doing it, you’re probably going to be anxious about not
having enough “tomatoes” left for yourself. That’s OK. Learn.
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