Recorded MP3 audio meditations: downloads and audio streams, written reflections and contemplative resources by Dorinda Miller

Written Reflections

The Tree of Your Life

The Tree of Your Life - Count the fruit

Today we move on to consider the fruit of the tree.  In your drawing at the beginning of the week, you placed a wheelbarrow at the base of the tree on the right.  

Ponder now on the fruit in your life.  Is it in evidence? Is it growing and forming?  Has it been harvested?  Jot down the key words and themes for you at this time, on or around the wheelbarrow.

In the Gospels there are references to identifying and knowing a tree by its fruit. For example, in Matthew 12:33 we read:

“If you grow a healthy tree, you’ll pick healthy fruit. If you grow a diseased tree, you’ll pick worm-eaten fruit. The fruit tells you about the tree.” (The Message)

Paul pick up this theme in his letter to the Galatians when he speaks about the fruit of the spirit.  

“But what happens when we live God’s way? He brings gifts into our lives, much the same way that fruit appears in an orchard—things like affection for others, exuberance about life, serenity. We develop a willingness to stick with things, a sense of compassion in the heart, and a conviction that a basic holiness permeates things and people. We find ourselves involved in loyal commitments, not needing to force our way in life, able to marshal and direct our energies wisely.” Galatians 5:22-23 (The Message)

As you ponder on Paul’s words and those that you wrote on your wheelbarrow, reflect on how visible the fruit of the Spirit is in your life at the moment.  From those Paul mentions, which ones do you want to cultivate in the coming year?

Written by Dorinda Miller; © D Miller 2018. For full credits please see the site credits page

Next Reflection:

Feed the tree