FINDING FRUIT

Christian Times Magazine issue 64 | Monthly Magazine page 12

By J. K. Harrill

What is your favorite fruit?

More often than not, that is a much easier question to ask than to readily have an answer available upon request. I have always been partial to Red Delicious Apples, yet on a hot summer’s day, the sound of the snap heard when a big juicy ripe watermelon is cut most of the way thru then broke open, sliced up and passed out for immediate consumption, that brings back watery mouth memories. Of course, who doesn’t love the aroma and taste of a just right and ripe Peach. Fruits are marketed in many different ways; we even attach the taste and emotional value of fruits to geographic locations such as states. While a young lady from Georgia may be referred to as a Georgia Peach, in Atlanta each year one of the most popular events taking place has to do with when two teams earn the right to show up on the field of play, give everything they have for four quarters of managing competition and the clock, where in the end only one will know the sweet taste of success going away as Peach Bowl Champion. As Georgia’s fruit baring tree of choice is the Peach, the Orange is King or Queen depending on the audience in Florida, and like Georgia, Florida has the Orange Bowl, the Tangerine Bowl and an attempted generalization of Florida’s Favorite Fruits found in the Citrus Bowl. All just one more reminder of our love of fruits.

Christian Times Magazine issue 64 | Monthly Magazine page 13

For many of us as we make plans to travel to the grocery or farmers market or wherever you may go, Finding Fruit is more often than not on the list. Even in this time of unequalled availability of most everything, one must still consider the Season. Fruits for the most part are still a crop not always readily available due to the season. So, the purchase of a Fresh Fruit, the Fruit of our desire, the taste of which we are seeking, one must consider, is that Fruit “In or Out of Season?”

Now back to the original question, What is your favorite Fruit? Could your favorite Fruit be one which many times we forget the truth being it actually is a Fruit. What about Tomatoes, are any one of the hundred varieties of Tomatoes one of your favorite Fruits? If we went by sheer numbers of consumption, Tomatoes would surely be near the top of the favorite fruit list in the United States. Well, given the immediate availability of information why don’t I just look and see. Okay…. That certainly didn’t take but a moment, drum roll please…. And the answer is….

The Most Popular Fruits in The World

Rank

Fruit Million Metric Tons

1

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 Mangoes Plantains Tangerines Pineapples Melons Peaches Pears Lemon Limes Papayas Plums Grapefruit Dates Strawberries Avocados Persimmons

Tomatoes Bananas Watermelon Apples Grapes Oranges

182.3 115.74 103.97 86.14 79.19 75.54 55.38 39.38 34.49 27.92 Now, once you have decided which fruit is your favorite, where does it rank in the World of Fruit Consumption?

To me what is absolutely amazing, the Fruit most often overlooked and forgotten as even being a Fruit is the Number One Fruit Produced Worldwide! Number One in both categories, First In Consumption, and First In Being Overlooked. Isn’t that far too typical in life. We are so busy looking ahead when we should be more present in the moment, thus missing out on the blessings of the Fruits of Life. Fruits found in our labor, Fruits found in children who as was commonly stated in my youth, a child being the Apple of their, Fathers or Mothers, or Grandparent’s eye. Fruits of life, providing

Christian Times Magazine issue 64 | Monthly Magazine page 14

the natural sweetener and sweetness in a World not always pleasant. As is written in God’s word about the Garden of Eden, it was a Fruit that God made off limits to Eve and Adam. The Fruit of all but that one Tree was theirs to enjoy and consume… just that one tree which could not have been confused with any other tree by Eve or Adam since God placed that tree, that one tree baring fruit in the middle of his and their Garden known as Eden. See that was really the first ever community garden, God’s and Eve’s and Adam’s Garden. A place where God could, would and did come to talk with his creation, his fellow gardeners. The only catch was don’t eat the fruit of the tree right there in plain view. That one of the many trees which Adam and Eve knew of its planting, yet what they did not know, could not comprehend was there was another planting about to take place in that soon no longer to be perfect Garden of Eden. A planting not to be found in the soil of the garden or that may have been noticed to the naked eye yet planted just the same. Temptation was planted in that first season of what was to have been eternal life in that Garden of Gods creation. Fruit…. It was the Fruit Satin offered up to Eve and Adam the Fruit from the Tree of Life, which once consumed came complete with a sentence of Death.

Galatians 5:22-23 provides us the definition of the 12 Fruits of the Spirit found in Christian Character,

“But the Fruit of the Spirit is Charity, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, LongSuffering, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, Modesty, Self-Control and Chastity” Interesting to note, there are two different versions of the above Galatians 5:22-23 text. The one most commonly used by and found today in both Catholic and Protestant Bibles is a bit shorter version, only 9 fruits instead of the original 12 found in the Latin translation of the Bible known as the Vulgate, translated by Saint Jerome. The three Fruits left out, which I am sure was done in an effort to make the modern fruit basket more appealing and manageable in this modern world, are Modesty, Self-Control and Chastity. I am sure all would agree, society today doesn’t need to be reminded about Modesty, Self-Control, or Chastity!

Of the twelve fruits…. Which would you consider to be your favorite? Charity, most of us like to consider ourselves as giving people.

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Joy, I suppose we all like having an abundance of Joy in our life. Peace, I see a lot of prayer request for Peace…. World Peace, Peace within the Family, so Peace is a pretty popular Fruit.

Patience, Oh My…. I don’t know about Patience; I see the Fruit of Patience gone bad on the Christian Vine a lot. At the Grocery, on the Hi-way…. Lacking in the actions of parents and their children, (bring them up in the way they should go….)

Kindness, we like Kindness…. we can get a bit prideful sometimes when we share about how Kind we are, were or can be Kind under the right circumstances. Long-Suffering don’t know anyone excited about Finding Long-Suffering Fruit. Long-Suffering is kind of easy to overlook as being a Fruit. Goodness, Oh My we Christians are all about Goodness, we really like talking about our Goodness. Faithfulness, kind of like apples, we can get a little selective about the variety of Faithful Fruit we like. Some Faithfulness Fruit is so much easier to consume than other Faithfulness. Gentleness, don’t know anyone who doesn’t like Gentleness Fruit, always goes down so easy and the only aftertaste is many times after receiving Gentleness Fruit, if we have to find some for someone else at a time that just isn’t convenient. Modesty, well since modesty and selfcontrol and chastity has all but been dropped as a Christian Fruit, I will let you decide what to do about them. Fruit…. Our Finding Fruit, just like the fruits listed at the beginning of this article, some of the Fruits of the Spirit found in a Christians Character taste better than others. Some can be downright hard to swallow, yet God’s list of Fruits doesn’t come with a opt-out option. Contrary to what evidently some church leaders have decided about the lack of importance found in Modesty, or Self Control or Chastity, God didn’t say “Pick Five or Six or Nine will do. ” We are to begin and end each day Finding The Fruit within ourselves, our lives and be available to present it to others in the name of God. I fail so much, I admit to you in the presence of God that I don’t even try sometimes when patience is required, or find long-suffering as fruitful, let alone try hard enough to know their blessings. Yet I will close with this honest prayer that each of us will, you and I and others who may need to be reminded of the importance of Finding Fruit, will all try harder than ever to carry Gods Fruit Basket with us daily, not just the more manageable nine, all twelve.

God Bless and Keep You….