Bearing Fruit…

Kneeling in the rich red dirt, I picked up another green onion to plant. Being a teen, I wondered why Mother made me interrupt my busy life to plant onions. The pile of onions seemed mountainous to my eyes and the task interminable. The young neighbor girl came to ask what I was doing. I chaffed under her questions. After a time she commented, “You just keep on, keepin’ on.”

I pondered those words as I placed one onion after another into its place. At first, the words rankled, but then they took on a life of their own. That is what life is – ‘keep on, keepin’ on’. The mundane tasks in life continue and they represent a monument to perseverance and a pathway to humility and servant hood.

When gardening time this year approached, my dear husband didn’t have the energy to work outside. I suggested that we plant tomatoes that grow upside down. We bought two and hung them on the back porch. I pictured the luscious summer fruit hanging in clusters from the healthy green vines. I pictured myself biting into a salad or a sandwich that contained fresh tomatoes. All from the back porch.

The tomato plants grew… with leggy and anemic leaves. Ed finally devised a way to hang them in the back yard. Finally after two months of growth the overly-watched tomato plants began blooming. Excited, we watched for little green tomatoes to ‘set-on’.

We have rationalized the lack of bearing tomatoes just as Elijah rationalized why Baal did not answer the prophets – “Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened.” (I Kings 18:27) We thought that the tomato plants appeared to be shy, disoriented because they were upside down and needed counseling or a plant psychiatrist.