We have a 50+ year-old apple tree in our backyard that we are pretty excited about. When we got our house 3 years ago, it was HUGE and produced tons and tons of apples without us having to do anything to it. Perfect.
However, as we've been living here longer and learning about how to take care of our fruit trees, we realized that this apple tree, though it gave tons of apples, needed care. The apples had worms and spots. The lower (reachable) ones were completely shaded by the higher (even with huge ladders, unreachable) ones, making our harvested apples small and kind of gimpy. The tree itself had so many branches that they were chocking each other out and shading each other so there was a ton of moss...
So last winter we trimmed out tree. And by trimmed, I mean my husband and his chainsaw climbed up a 40-foot tree, and came back down a 25-foot tree. We thinned out branches and rubbed off moss. We changed the entire shape of it, and then stood back and prayed we hadn't killed it.
Then, this summer brought fruit. Beautiful fruit. The apples have almost no worms and are nearly twice the size they used to be. Even their color is more vibrant.
The other day I was sitting, nursing my baby and watching my kids play, and looking at my tree. And I realized that I'm a lot like it. Christ says you can judge something by it's fruits - and my life definitely has fruit - I'm doing my normal Catholic thing. Going to Mass on Sundays, and even helping out when I can. I don't rob banks, and haven't pushed over an old person in YEARS. But I don't prune. I don't get to the confessional. And I need to. I was made for it. We all are.
My fruit can be better. My love can be better if I take the proper care. I'm sure if I started going to confession regularly (once a month) my life wouldn't change drastically. I wouldn't come come home and announce the whole family's moving to a third world country to do mission work; just like my apple tree will never become a pineapple no matter how much it's trimmed. But I'll be a better wife. A better mom and friend. My love will become sweeter and more vibrant. Like my apples.
1 comment:
Do it! I think it's easier to aim for confession every two weeks...that way you are going at least once a month. Also, it really does improve the quality of my own self knowledge. :)
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