While I was in language school in Costa Rica, I took a class that required me to visit five businesses every week, asking questions about the culture, language and life in general. One of the places I frequented was the local fruit stand. I spent hours each week talking to Ronnie, fruit-stand owner extraordinaire.

I’m sure I sounded much like a kindergartner with my questions. “What is this?” “Is this thing edible? How do you go about eating it?” Mind you, I’m the granddaughter of a produce manager, meaning that my grandfather learned to leave modestly after surviving the Great Depression and only brought home spoiled fruit that was about to be discarded. There was no color coding in my mom’s fruit and vegetable inventory. They only came in one color: brown. My mom’s disgust of fruit (namely the spoiled variety) led to very few fresh foods being served during my childhood, so to sit in an entire store brimming with fruit–familiar and unknown alike–was nearly as rich of an experience as exploring Costa Rica’s many volcanoes. Foods that were new to me such as starfruit, guava, guanabana, lychee and granadilla lined the shelves, as did the familiar apples and bananas.

Both those I was accustomed to and those I got to try for the first time had one thing in common: they were picked from trees. I state the obvious because we at The Intersection are excited to begin delving into the fruits of the spirits with you over the next several months. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.” Galatians 5:22, 23 We’ll look at each of these fruits, some of which might seem as common as apples, while others are as foreign as cas (sour guava). Regardless, it is imperative to always keep one thing in mind: fruit is always picked. I can not tape a banana to a tree and expect more bananas to grow alongside it. The same is true of our spiritual walks. We can’t paste love, patience or any other “fruit” onto our tree of life and expect it to be authentic. But don’t be dismayed. There is a way for fruit to be displayed in our lives. In fact, it’s a promise to us from the Lord Almighty.

I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15:5

I’m looking forward to some great fruit. I hope you are, too.