About bad fruits, busyness and aromas

Couple of days ago, my friend bought herself a nice fresh rockmelon. Looking good, smelling nice – was a pure invitation to be eaten as a refreshing snack. What was her disappointment when this great looking fruit has been cut and turned out to be tasteless, woody and dry. Don’t judge a book by it’s cover – with a nasty surprise!

The other day I bumped into a workmate whom I have not seen for a while. When asked how she is doing, she said: I am well and then she went on to explain to me that she avoids using the word “busy” as these days it seems to be the most common answer for any conversation starter. She said, that she uses word “ productive” instead. It is supposed to help others to understand that she is engaged in some activities, but open to accommodate whatever people ask her to do as she felt that word “busy” closes us for one another and makes not available or attentive to others’ needs. Although I don’t agree with the point that we always have to be “productive” I accept an interesting point she was making.

Both stories made me thinking. In the society in which we worry so much about the appearance and the way we present ourselves to others in order to climb the ladder of career and success, we might look great from outside and still be pretty empty and tasteless inside. So many things in which we get engage can make us busy or focused on bringing the results, being productive, that we might forget to enjoy the moments of being – for ourselves, for others and for God.

I love finding in the Bible little gems which shows how the authors of the books in the Bible used the down-to-earth expressions to help us to understand the message from God.

In the Gospel of Matthew (5:13) we hear words of Jesus: “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot”. Saint Paul in the second letter to Corinthians (2:15) says that “we are to God the pleasing aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing”. Without any attempt to interpret even only these two quotes from the Bible, I think that the invitation to be who God wants us to be and bring the best taste and light of God’s love to others seems for us as an ongoing challenge.

What if, this week, at the end of each day, instead of thinking what did we do, we will think of how attentive we were to being who God wants us to be?

What if, we try to share thoughts, words and events which made us better, more life – giving and brighter inside out?

Wouldn’t it be great?!

Be the light. Be the taste and aroma of Christ. Be who God wants you to be.

Have a great week,

Sr Grace