Forgotten Fruit:

I think in pictures; blame the dyslexia, but there you have it. The bank of my thoughts is like a never ending image fiesta. So when I want to communicate something of value I like to bring a visual aid. So here it is.

Picture an airplane that is tightly packed and the recycled cabin air is as thin as the patience of the passengers. Got it? Good. Moving on- now, imagine you are one of the last people to board said aircraft. As you walk down the “tube shoot” the airlines like to call an aisle you embarrassingly bump the elbows of your fellow passengers with your unusually large carry-on, apologizing along the way. When you reach the rear of the plane you arrive at a familiar choice, two empty seats. Like any rational person, you look to the people that neighbor those empty seats for the answer to your seat-filling dilemma.

You could sit next to the prickly looking businessman whose annoyance is visible and whose social cues are punctuated by his red-faced scowl and the wall of gadgets that litter the “empty” seat next to him. Or you can sit next to the smiling little old lady who looks like she could be the offspring of Betty Crocker and Santa Clause.

No brainer, right?

My on-line dictionary has informed me that the definitions for gentleness are being free from harshness, sternness, or violence; and becoming intentionally mild. Synonyms for the word are tender, kind, careful and, much to my surprise, obedient.

Conversely, a single antonym for gentleness is imperviousness or in blunter terms, immunity. In our world immunity might conjure images of a reality television show where immunity is a prize that is hotly sought after through bare bones competition. Immunity in our world is a positive word.

I’ll come back to that one.

Back to gentleness; if we put gentleness in the context of where I first found it we will locate it in scripture next to a heap of other words labeled as fruits. Fruits of what? Fruits of God’s Spirit that we, as Christians, were told to emulate. Since these words were written at a time before processed sugar the word “fruit” was the sweetest thing the author could tempt the reader with.

I’m sure if it could be rewritten today we might use the ice cream of the spirit, the chocolate of the spirit, the-, well you get the idea—sweetness; and who doesn’t like sweet?

Back to my obvious visual aid, would you rather sit next to the businessman or the old woman? The one who is immune to everyone else around him, or the one who looks as sweet as the cookies from her kitchen? The answer is clear.

But, suppose for a moment that there is no old woman. Suppose, that your choice is between the annoyed business man and an angry middle aged woman whose complaints can be heard from nose to tail. “The plane is too crowded”, “the wait is too long”, “the air is too warm”; now, which seat do you choose?

Did I hear you mutter, “the lesser of two evils?”

There it is. When did that happen? When did our world go from a world of good vs. evil to a choice between two evils?

I believe the day we forgot the Fruit was the day the world became two-evil or more aptly put, too-evil. We all ignored the fact that gentleness really is a fruit of the Holy Spirit. Or maybe we didn’t forget, maybe we decided that gentleness equates to weakness and therefore not a part of the American mantra. Perhaps, we reasoned that gentleness was not part of our personality type and gave ourselves permission to be the antithesis of gentle: immune.

Immune to the stressed out mom, immune to the overworked waitress, immune to the jobless father, immune to the crying child, immune to the difficult co-worker, immune with our words, actions, thoughts, immune to all the people around us. Immune. Immune. Immune.

I am guilty of it and by the looks of our world so are you. The good news is that we serve a God who loves us enough to forgive us and wise enough to provide us with a guide book complete with a to-do list; Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Self-Control and “Ta-Da!”-Gentleness.

“Let your gentleness be evident to all.” Philippians 4:5