“The fruit is inedible now winter has fully set in, and a great deal of what looks like blackened and shrivelled carbuncles remain on the bush.”
I have been quite concerned about the huge fig bush stood alongside our apartment building. We arrived in Victoria, BC, late summer when the fig bush was covered in glorious, massive green leaves and healthy fig buds. Autumn saw the fig buds truly fill out and many a critter has had more than it's fair share of the feast but that still didn't seem to diminish the number of fruit on the bush. Eventually, frost arrived and the leaves began to fall away, which revealed many more branches burgeoning with even more fruit. But what has been really strange, and more than a little worrying to me, is that nobody has picked the fruit. It appears that where we are no one knows very much about the when of picking figs or how to preserve them - it is a "foreign" fruit. It seems we are all pagans in this, having only really seen figs in their most familiar end stage scenario as Fig Newtons. The fruit is inedible now winter has fully set in, and a great deal of what looks like blackened and shrivelled carbuncles remain on the bush. Of course we all know about the story of Jesus cursing the fig tree when he found no fruit on it (Matt 21:18-22) but I can't help but wonder what he would make of a fig bush full of figs that no one picks so that the fruit goes to waste. Personally, I can't help but think about its relevance to today's worldview of those who follow Christ and the Christmas message as being "foreign" fruit - they can see how good we look (especially at this time of year), they've heard that we 'taste' good in some forms but ultimately they have no idea what to do with us and leave us untried.
When we first moved back to Victoria after being away for more than 10 years, I found myself in a conversation with a woman on the bus to work discussing our disappointment with the city - it is nothing like we remember it, except that it still sits across from the beautiful Olympian mountain range beside the warm Pacific Ocean. The Sunday following that conversation, hubby and I visited a local church and who should I see coming up the aisle but the lady from the bus. We had a good laugh at how we came to meet again, and then she confessed that after she got off the bus she realized that she was a 'chicken' Christian, that she should have been brave and invited me to church so that I might make some friends in the area and see that there was more to the city than just the druggies hanging out harassing people on Yates Street. I confessed to her that I too was a 'chicken' follower of Christ, who should have asked if she knew of a friendly church in the area!
Christmas is making a bit of a comeback these days in that those who determine what is politically correct (PC) in the marketplace have decided that their hypocrisy can be clearly seen if they insist on the validity of all other religious festivals except Christianity's Christmas celebrations, so once again we can wish people "Merry Christmas" instead of "Season's Greetings" if we want. During the time it wasn't at all PC to celebrate Christ or the Christmas message, followers of Christ closed ranks and continued in their fellowship to worship the Lord and celebrate the birth of the Living message of God's love - we became like "foreign" fruit. But now is the time for us to share our fruit. Now is the time to express the fullness of that message of love and hope that has been ripening in our hearts. Now is the time for the ripened fruit to fall off the bush and feed the people - to show in a living and loving way that the message of Christ is not a "foreign" message but that it is an all encompassing message of love and hope - every child, woman and man is invited to taste of its goodness.
And now I'm off to make a Figgy Pudding - Blessings and Shalom and a very Happy Christmas from my family to yours.
Madelaine is a wonderful friend and writer presently living in Victoria B.C.