Let's Grow Some Figs!

Figs are pear-shaped fruits grown for preserves and desserts in warm climates. A fig tree, also the symbol for Israel, has shallow roots; nutrients taken from the soil require three years of growth until fruits are produced. During this period, the fig tree returns nothing back to the soil. “Love is a fruit always in season,” says Blessed Teresa of Calcutta.

Israel had many eons to produce this heavenly fruit. Their loins were not well girded; religious leaders ruling society produced only external, shallow customs to give back to the Lord for all His bounty toward Israel. Covenants between God and Israel were made and broken by the nation; love for God and others were not being produced, yet God and His mercy continued to give the nation ample chances.

In the parable of the fig tree, Jesus tells the nation His mercy is coming to an end; His justice would prevail and the nation would feel the consequences of their collective poor behavior. Jesus’ messianic message would not be freedom from Rome; it would be freedom from the bonds of sin. Repent, forgive, love one another, and love of God must be parameters of their national focus.

Jesus’ warning to Israel should be taken seriously by our national leaders. He is the potter, we are the clay. Bridge builders, not wall builders, must permeate our national consensus. Where are holy men and women who can influence our nation’s collective thought? Only good fruit, integrity, heart felt praise to the one who created man, will allow other clear thinking men to follow the will of the Creator, who has given our nation all which man did not create. It is Jesus who waters and feeds the masses with love and second chances. He is here in our midst, He says. “Let he who has ears listen.”

Our Ninevah city of forty days is Lent. Lent is the time to begin repentance and forgiveness with the Lord as the center of our garden of life. Only Christ with His Passion, death, and Resurrection can be our perfect sacrificial Lamb, our perfect priest for the people to follow. If we, faithful, clear eyed followers live His message of love and forgiveness then all nations can look toward the new Israeli creation with many figs being produced in America and shipped all over the world for man’s consumption.