The Tree

And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou easiest thereof thou shalt surely die (Genesis 2:16-17)

Dear reader, I have been eating the fruit from the tree of knowledge and dare I say, so have you?! To my horror, and that may sound rather dramatic but I am okay with this, I have harboured bitterness, resentment, and anger that are quite unbecoming. I have lots of excuses and explanations for these unsavoury sentiments, but I still find it impossible to justify any one of them!

Eating foul fruit makes one unattractive
The knowledge of good and evil does not make me less responsible or accountable, in fact, it makes me more of something. I become more liable, more answerable for my decisions, because the bitter fruit of resentment, and fuming feelings that accompany anger, poison my thinking, my psyche and quite naturally, my soul. Fortunately for me, I do not like these rotten fruit flavours: they are repugnant to me: the me that I become when I indulge them is so unattractive that I want to hide from myself.

Here is your cheat sheet: do you contagiously create for the good or are you a soul leper?

Here dear reader: here is the list of emotional, psychological, spiritual fruits that contagiously create glory or alternatively, cause gut rot and soul leprosy. You need not struggle, wonder or flounder. The answers are provided for you below:

Foul fruit of the spirit                    

Pride results in scorn                       

Anger generates hate                       

Desire causes craving                       

Fear develops anxiety                      

Grief grips with regret                       

Apathy engenders despair        

Guilt points to blame                         

Shame humiliates                             

Cowardice afflicts integrity   

VS             

Glorious affirmation of Life

Enlightenment makes one ineffable

Peace births bliss

Joy manifests serenity 

Love reveals reverence

Reason open to understanding

Acceptance forges to forgiveness

Willingness operates optimism

Neutrality allows for trust

Courage affirms

Selecting 
Plucking the fruit from the tree is the easy part. Selecting the right kind is the challenge for each of us. Temptation attempts to persuade and prevail, but it does not have to. We need not give in and become subject to its allure. The metaphor of the tree of knowledge is invaluable. We are not far behind our forefather and mother, Adam and Eve. We can be keenly aware that we are forever choosing what consumes or fuels us. 

Foul fruit or glorious affirmation of life, dear reader? You are choosing every minute of your awake day. You are on the hook now, if you have read to this point. 

You can never say that you just didn't know any better...

Grin: and neither can I