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In Christian tradition there is an idea known as ‘the fruit of the Spirit.’ We read of this in a letter that the apostle Paul wrote long ago to Gentile believers located in Asia Minor, specifically in a place known as Galatia.
The circumstances surrounding this letter are probably important to know before (or as) one addresses the qualities of such ‘fruit.’ So up front give me a moment to provide a little background regarding what was occurring in the Galatian situation that prompted the writing of this letter to begin with.
During the rise of Christianity in the first century, for a period of time there were a lot of Jewish people who followed Jesus but also demanded that new Gentile converts to this newfound Jesus-following also convert to Judaism. The main argument stemmed from the fact that the Jewish temple in Jerusalem still stood, that many Jewish Christian believers still attended its services and that, generally speaking, God still dwelt in the most holy place of this temple. For many believing Jews, you could follow Jesus but only on the condition that you continued to closely observe the religious law.
Paul, however, argued that a person was in relationship with God because of the faith of Christ, not law observance or other outward works a person had to ‘do.’ In the process of writing this letter to Gentile Christians, at one point he speaks to something that, in his mind, is apart from law – the ‘fruit’ of the Spirit.
For Paul such fruit is: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control, adding that against such things, ‘there is no law.’ I think it’s probably significant that Paul refers to all of these as a singular ‘fruit’ of the Spirit rather than as individual ‘fruits’ (plural) of the Spirit.
From Paul’s vantage point, they all proceed from our living out of the Spirit – the deepest (and simplest) disclosure of who we really are – the true self. It’s like saying that once you ‘get’ or ‘understand’ the story of how Jesus came so show us our unity with the Unnameable, these things tend to naturally flow from such an understanding.
I think the need to meditate on these things is because of how easily they sometimes come and go depending on outward circumstances. In other words, when life gets tough, if we’re not consciously living out of this sort of realization, such fruit will not carry the day – instead, the egoic false self will.
There is an old Tibetan metaphor that describes this process of fleeting attributes by saying that in such instances they prove to ‘consist of many small puddles that can evaporate easily rather than a deep, expansive, long-lasting reservoir.’
I like that metaphor. It helps reinforce for me the need to be constant in my guard against the ego and in the inherent weakness of simply living according to my code of ethic (law) or based upon my own (false) self-discipline.
There is a higher power. A higher Source of discipline and strength. And by intentionally living into this Source, the fruit is more likely to be there when it is most needed. As a result, our suffering and the suffering we cause others is most often averted.
So, is our practice and consciousness indicative of ‘puddles’ or ‘reservoirs’? I like the latter. Today, dig deep!
Blessings.
In regard to the singularity vs. plurality of the fruit, I have long believed that it is singular. I love the way you put it in the context of living out of the eye of the spirit rather than the ego. Just as in an orange. It’s made up of peel, seeds, pulp, etc. but it’s all one fruit. I could easily say that I have love and peace but I ain’t too good on the patience part but that completely misses the point. I may have to speak out of faith here, but when we do live from the viewpoint of the spirit, we exhibit the fruit of the spirit.