This poem is taken from a story of Jesus in the Bible, (Matthew 21:18-20) where he cursed a fig tree and caused it to wither. While this might seem harsh, it’s helpful to know something. A unique characteristic of Israel’s fig tree is that its leaves and fruit appear are supposed to appear at the same time! This is unlike other trees, where leaves come first, then fruit. .
There once was a fig tree that put out leaves, which meant–it should have fruit. While other fig trees were barren, as it wasn’t their time, so quiet–they stayed put.
From a distance Jesus noticed, and with hunger he drew near, to hopefully find upon the tree, what it said it did so bear.
But alas, it lied; it’s fruit, a farce! Its’ leaves were all it had. It acted the part, it looked to be good, when the truth was it was all bad.
So in disgust Jesus cursed the tree with fruitless limbs. Not because it bore no fruit, but because it lied to him.
When I first saw it in the backyard, I was horrified. My mother’s peony bush was infested with ants! They were crawling all over its tightly wadded flower buds… which, I knew from the year before, bloomed in a most striking fuchsia color.
Upon closer examination, however, the buds appeared to be healthy.
So what were the ants doing?
After some online research, I was relieved. My mother’s peony bush was fine! The ants were simply licking the sweet nectar juice that oozes from the surface of the buds.
But I also learned something else—something that got my juices going. Ants are believed to have a symbiotic relationship to peony flowers. Sometimes, the nectar runs so thick on the flower buds, that they don’t open. Ants are thought to help the peonies flowers by thinning out this sticky layer.
Additionally, the presence of ants on the peonies may even scare off other insects who are harmful to the peonies!
Immediately, I saw a metaphor in all of this. There are good things that naturally happen when we do what we’re created to do, and when we love what we’re created to love. The ants weren’t consciously trying to open the blooms. They weren’t listening to religious ant leaders guilting them into doing good deeds. The ants simply love nectar, and as a result, they help beautiful flowers to bloom. Likewise, when our lives become similarly focused on the “nectar” of God’s wisdom and insights (those words we were created to live by) we will make an impact on the world. We don’t have to try. We don’t have to put on airs, or “preach,” or do anything unnatural. Simply being “in love” is enough, and we can trust the results to God.
“Where has your beloved gone, O most beautiful among women? Where has your beloved turned, That we may seek him with you?”
“My beloved has gone down to his garden, To the beds of balsam, To feed in the gardens, and gather lilies. I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine, He is the One who grazes among the lilies.” ~Song of Songs 6:1-3 ~
