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The Chibi News Daily Reflection
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Hello, my name is Marjorie and I am a Baptist minister in the city of Sheffield
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In his teaching, Jesus often used examples from the agrarian world that were very familiar to the listeners of the day
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But his examples, based on the natural and physical world, are of course timeless, as is the human condition
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There is nothing new under the sun. In Matthew's Gospel chapter 7, Jesus says
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A good tree produces good fruit and a bad tree produces only bad fruit
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Just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions
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In other words, the roots, the physical condition and the interior of the tree
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are what really matters because roots produce shoots. This is a stark reminder to listeners in every age that the interior life the life below the surface is what really counts When we are healthy in our hearts we live at peace with ourselves and others
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even when maybe it feels like there are storms raging around us. But when our roots are rotten
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perhaps we harbour anger or we won't forgive others. That's when what is within us overflows
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into how we speak or how we treat others. I grew up by the sea and I often saw ship owners working
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on their boats in the dockyards all through the winter. A sensible sailor knows that it is not
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the shiny decks or beautiful sails that withstand storms but the underside of the boat, the unseen
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Jesus's teaching reminds us the importance of allowing ourselves reflection time, looking both
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the fruit of our lives and the hidden life of the heart
