four-minute friday: apples & oranges
I think most of you know my friend Mandy. If you don’t, you should. She’s incredible.
Back on the Q’s & A’s post, she suggested I have some friends write for Four-Minute Friday. I decided to take her up on her idea…
I asked her to write one.
So here’s Mandy Thompson… on apples and oranges:
Go.
I think sometimes we can focus so strongly on the differences between us that we begin to see people as being completely “other than” us. We stare at the differences until the only conclusion is that we’re different creatures – different beings – different at a core level.
Like comparing Apples and Oranges.
But this couldn’t be further from the truth. Our outsides may look different in size, color, and even shape, but we all have the same kind of skin, and the same type of insides. And we can all bruise. And if you throw a bunch of apples in a bag and shake them up, they will bruise one another.
We forget this. We just jump in the bag and hurt and harm others.
We also forget that, buried safely beneath the surface, at the core of who we are, seeds are waiting on the moment when they can grow – bring life from that apple. We all have dreams and plans and desires inside of us. We all have gifts and potential to give MORE to the world – more than who we are in and of ourselves.
Each apple has within it the ability to be a life-giving tree… if given the chance.
But do we give others the chance? And do we give ourselves the chance? Or are we stuck nursing our own bruisings? Or too distracted by the outside differences that separate us from others?
Done.
@kamriereed says:
You are exactly right. It seems like I judge people on the spot and choose to in a way unkwonigly neglect them even though they are exactly like me. They may not think like me but they do have feelings, a heart, and even a liver. All of these are similar to me so how is it that I choose to think that I am simply better or smarter then them. Thanks for the reminder.
@cassgirl says:
Great post Mandy!
I’m dealing with this very thing right now. But unfortuantely, I don’t know how to fix it quite yet. I spent two mornings in a row, praying, sobbing, and writing how I feel.
I am keeping positive and right this minute I am holding an apple in one hand and an orange in another for a reminder to keep positive..
because:
” that, buried safely beneath the surface, at the core of who we are, seeds are waiting on the moment when they can grow – bring life from that apple. We all have dreams and plans and desires inside of us. We all have gifts and potential to give MORE to the world – more than who we are in and of ourselves.”
Thanks girl!
@pa3cia says:
Each apple has within it the ability to be a life-giving tree… if given the chance.
I LOVE THIS!
Wow, :) I love it when people use a different perspective to get an idea across. :) Love this imagery! :)
Thanks for sharing!
Love this post and analogy.
Thanks Mandy for sharing, and Alece, for sharing too. :)
Great post. Fantastic.
@bajanpoet says:
“But do we give others the chance? And do we give ourselves the chance? Or are we stuck nursing our own bruisings? Or too distracted by the outside differences that separate us from others?”
Ouch. Feel like I’ve been spending a lot of time nursing my own brusings…..
Love Mandy – she was my friday favorite (#FF) earlier today. Her series the last couple of weeks has been amazing :) Yay Mandy!
What happens when we lose that gift? When we lose our potential to “give more” to the world? What happens when our trials become so great we can scarcely endure a day without a drink? What happens when we use vulgar words, make crass jokes, and complain so much that others can barely stand being around us?
I’m not talking about me — hard as that may seem to believe (insert sarcasm) — but I have known quite a few people like that. And I know that if I were to ask a roomf full of Christians about that kind of person’s value, I could take bets now on the answers I’d get…
…And, if you’ll pardon my being blunt, I could also take bets on the ACTIONS I’d see when the same Christians would meet someone exactly as I described. Met and spent the day with and actually tried to get to know as a human being.
People like that have seeds, too. The seeds of eternity God has planted in their hearts. And, sooner or later, the decaying flesh of the apple and the orange reveals that eternal seed, our longing for Eden, for that new Heaven and new Earth, and, above all, for God Himself.
Heaven is a place where all (preconceived) bets are off, where the artisitc masterpiece of God’s Image finally becomes glorified and the graffitti of this fallen world has long since faded.
@mandythompson says:
Al: I’m honored to have written here. Thanks for letting me do it. :)
And thanks, y’all, for all the love and insight and honesty in these comments.
I think it can go the opposite way, too. Sometimes there are apples that look the same on the outside and it turns out the insides are completely different. That’s why it’s always best to take every relationship individually. And value them for what they are rather than what we expect them to be. My relationships changed so much when I changed my expectations of what I thought every relationship had to be…
Good work Mandy! I love that others are willing to share the load here. This is a wonderfully unique community, and I love it!
Love each and every apple and orange that I am getting to know here!
Anyone know of a good easy summer read? I joined the summer reading club at the library because I’m a big reader but this is 5 books in 8 weeks. Its a stretch even for me so I’m looking for some good light easy reading. Any ideas?
@kedamak says:
Each apple has within it the ability to be a life-giving tree… if given the chance.
Beautiful words Mandy; the entire post but I really love that sentence. More than giving others the chance I wonder how often we fail to give ourselves the chance to be that life giving tree because we are comparing ourselves to others. We’re deciding our apple doesn’t look as good as that orange so instead of celebrating who we are, we lament that we are not an orange. Thank you for sharing these thoughts. As always they are beauty.