Awareness

Every Tree… Known by Its Fruit

Have you ever stopped to consider the wide array of fruits and vegetables around the world and the richness in color and nutrients that they offer, not to mention the satisfaction they can bring to one’s palate?

Earlier in the week I had a kumquat for the first time. Not knowing exactly what to expect, I found it to be interesting and surprising in both texture and taste. Its outward appearance (shape, feel and size) was similar to a grape tomato but of a yellow-orange color and more firm. Upon chewing, it was full of a very citrusy flavor like a tangerine only with greater tartness and fewer seeds. The experience was not at all what I thought it might be like—a mild tasting fruit. It was new and very different than anything I had tasted before.

While I have seen kumquats in grocery stores many times, I had never gravitated toward them or been curious enough to try them. In fact, had it not been for the story and the excitement with which an acquaintance offered me one as she explained how she came to buy them, just a day or two before, for the first time herself, they would still be foreign and unknown by me.

Thinking about the experience, it is intriguing how the kumquat, such a little thing originating half way across the world from where I live, could pack such a powerful experience… powerful enough to create a sense of “wow!” and a desire to share the news with others for both my acquaintance and myself.

Perhaps, even more compelling, the fact that the Cantonese name for “kumquat,” pronounced gām-gwāt, means “golden orange” or “golden tangerine.” The name definitely gives an indication of what to expect in terms of citrus flavor and if you see a kumquat tree it looks very much like a tangerine tree, however, in looking at the outside of this little fruit it looks nothing like what a tangerine is supposed to look like. The shape is different, it is smaller (or at least what I had was), and the skin is not peeled. Despite this, the kumquat certainly tastes like a tangerine, and, if what is on the inside truly counts, then that is all that matters.

In everyday life, as we go about our business, we all bear fruit. There are many different ways in which we do so and just as many kinds of fruit. Sometimes we can jump to conclusions, assess people and/or situations, or make assumptions, based on what appears to be rather than looking at what truly is. We must be aware. We must remember substance.

Jesus said to his disciples:
“A good tree does not bear rotten fruit,
nor does a rotten tree bear good fruit.
For every tree is known by its own fruit.
For people do not pick figs from thornbushes,
nor do they gather grapes from brambles.
A good person out of the store of goodness in his heart produces good,
but an evil person out of a store of evil produces evil;
for from the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks.
– Luke 6:43-45

Kumquats

Intuition…

Intuition is sometimes referred to as the voice within or direction from one’s soul. Famed physicist, Albert Einstein once said, “The intellect has little to do on the road to discovery. There comes a leap in consciousness, call it intuition or what you will, and the solution comes to you and you don’t know why or how.”

As we travel along our way throughout life, we all have moments where we act or respond based on a gut feeling, or intuition, more than anything else. Just the same, there are moments where perhaps we ignore that gut feeling and lean toward the voice of reason and act or respond logically. Renowned poet William Wordsworth said, “Faith is a passionate intuition.”

In a letter to the Hebrews, St. Paul wrote:

“Faith is the realization of what is hoped for
and evidence of things not seen.
Because of it the ancients were well attested.
By faith we understand that the universe was ordered by the word of God,
so that what is visible came into being through the invisible.
By faith Abel offered to God a sacrifice greater than Cain’s.
Through this, he was attested to be righteous,
God bearing witness to his gifts,
and through this, though dead, he still speaks.
By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death,
and he was found no more because God had taken him.
Before he was taken up, he was attested to have pleased God.
But without faith it is impossible to please him,
for anyone who approaches God must believe that he exists
and that he rewards those who seek him.
By faith Noah, warned about what was not yet seen,
with reverence built an ark for the salvation of his household.
Through this, he condemned the world
and inherited the righteousness that comes through faith.” (Hebrews 11:1-7)

Whatever one might believe, no matter how different one’s approach might be, we all have intuition. Both the wisdom and insight of intuition are planted within us, pushing through the soil that is knowledge and/or experience to the contrary, and budding at just the right time for just the right occasion, seeking to guide and protect us…to help us choose what is best. This occurs regardless of whether or not we consider and heed it.

While Albert Einstein, William Wordsworth, and St. Paul lived in different times and traveled in very different circles, they all lived with an awareness of that which is sacred and an openness to creation and innovation. They seem to have made every effort to reverence the fruit of the Vine, the work of their hands, and the dreams and longings of their souls. We are called to do the same.

pond2

 

A Midnight Clear…Shepherds in the Field

We all have times in our lives that are opportunities for discovery, calling us toward movement and helping us to arise to a new level of awareness…to give witness to the truth and the light…to become more genuine. Depending on how we receive and respond, or not, these moments can become transformative and the grace that flows from them can continue far beyond one’s initial experience.

“Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, just as it had been told to them” (Luke 2:20).

One might imagine that the shepherds felt a sense of awe and wonder that night. What happened likely changed them in ways visible as well as ones hidden within. One might say it was a pivotal moment in their lives.

The shepherds were initially fearful at the appearance of the angel of the Lord, but like Mary and Joseph, they received the unexpected messenger and they listened with open minds and hearts to the message. In doing so, they were moved, in mind and spirit, and they responded.

They did not look away, but rather they took in, or embraced, the knowledge that had been shared with them and the experience around it.

“And suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel, praising God and saying: ‘Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests'” (Luke 2:13-14).

It all started in the quiet of the night. What took place was powerful, moving the shepherds to leave their posts watching over their sheep. When they did, they went from entertaining an angel to encountering the newborn King.

With that, they experienced the hope and promise that comes with new life. An experience that could not be kept to themselves. “When they saw this, they made known the message that had been told them about this child.” (Luke 2:17)

In order for this to transpire, the shepherds had to step away from the flock…step outside of the norm. Only then could they witness what they had been told and spread the message so that all could arise from darkness into Light.

“Now there were shepherds in that region living in the fields and keeping the night watch over their flock.

The angel of the Lord appeared to them and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were struck with great fear.

The angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for behold, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.

For today in the city of David a savior has been born for you who is Messiah and Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.”

And suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel, praising God and saying:

“Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

When the angels went away from them to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go, then, to Bethlehem to see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.”

So they went in haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the infant lying in the manger.

When they saw this, they made known the message that had been told them about this child.

All who heard it were amazed by what had been told them by the shepherds.

And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart.

Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, just as it had been told to them.”

– Luke 2:8-20

 hope1

Angels Among Us…

This past week as my daughter celebrated a birthday, I found myself recalling an experience I had on the day that she was born. The circumstances were such that my husband needed to stay with our 2-year-old son and so my daughter and I were alone at the hospital that night. I remember being exhausted as well as happy and then later, so sad.

No explanation beyond labor for being exhausted. I was happy…grateful…that my daughter had been born and was doing okay and then I felt so sad that my husband wasn’t able to be there for the birth of our daughter. He was able to come for a short visit afterward, but now as the day was coming to end, it was just me and my daughter. We were alone in the room and she still wouldn’t nurse. She kept falling asleep.

At one point, I remember wishing so badly that my husband was there. I was feeling very overwhelmed by the experience of the whole day, and so alone. Then a nurse, one who I had not seen before, came into the room to check on us. She had such a peaceful presence and a gentle smile. During the brief time we interacted my feelings of being overwhelmed disappeared completely. As she was wrapping up and preparing to leave the room, she re-swaddled my daughter and gently handed her to me with a smile. She left and my daughter and I fell sound asleep. When I awoke a few hours later, I felt so refreshed and so at peace, and as my daughter continued not to nurse, I found myself with a renewed patience, and strengthened spirit. It turned out that I never saw the nurse with the peaceful spirit and gentle smile again, but to this day, each time I think of that experience I feel blessed and grateful for the angel sent to me in that hour of need.

As one goes through life, there are many signs; some are acknowledged perhaps almost immediately, some are recognized in time, and some remain hanging in the balance, waiting to be discovered.

“Then Peter recovered his senses and said, ‘Now I know for certain that [the] Lord sent his angel and rescued me…’.” – Acts 12:11