Honeycrisp™

If any of you have ever dared to mention the word “apple” around me, you probably know that there is only one variety that I consider worthy of my taste buds.

The flippin’ Honeycrisp™.

This is a story of how my professor purchased happiness.

The Bronx understands!!!!

I literally asked someone to capture the moment. I'm not joking people.

The sunglasses are hiding tears.

Now I don’t understand the exact process of how this miracle fruit came into existence, but the magic happened at the University of Minnesota. Despite not studying at the U of M, this fact  makes me more closely-related to the celebrity apple than you are.

.... also a Minnesota creation.

I am riding this high horse because, if you have ever tried a Honeycrisp™ apple  in your short, bittersweet life, then you will know: this thing is different. This beautiful apple is different, and different is good. And from that moment on, every other apple has been but a sad comparison, a sad reminder that were not eating a Honeycrisp™.

Honestly if at this point you still haven’t tried one (and are in the states), stop reading and go buy one. Holy crap, its fall for you guys. GO BUY A FLIPPING HONECRISP™ APPLE AND WEEP FOR ME. WEEP FOR THE GIRL IN BRAZIL WHO CAN’T EAT THE SWEET FRUIT OF JOY and so goes to the beach to drown her sorrows in sunbathing.

Just kidding, I'm good.

In all seriousness, I’m fascinated with the process of “creating” something that occurs in nature – selectively choosing and grafting strains of fruit in order to grow something that would not have happened naturally. I have tasted and seen the beauty of the Honeycrisp™, which is created according to the same metaphor used to describe non-Jews becoming part of God’s people, part of His “family tree”.

And a more well-known bit...

“I am the vine, you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit. Apart from me you can do nothing.” John 15:5

When someone becomes a child of God, they are taken off of the “vine” that they inhabited, and transferred to a new vine. They no longer find their energy for living from the roots of the old vine – because they are no longer connected to it. Go ahead, try to find sustenance in the roots of your old vine! Gol’ darnit it don’t work! Becaause... your source of life is new.

And what happens when the source of one’s life changes??? What happens when all of a sudden, my “branch” is grafted onto a new vine? The branch of my life produces a different fruit. It can never produce the old fruit. And the fruit of the vine of Jesus is like a flippin’ Honeycrisp™ apple. It is more perfect than any other apple.

Of course no fruit can ever be perfect, and of course some people may not appreciate that little package of sweetness and beauty like I do. But the scientists who created that apple at the University of Minnesota are probably still at it – tweaking and perfecting something that is already an incredible improvement to other apples. 

I have been taken from a vine that produced nothing, and have been grafted onto the vine that produces sweet and beautiful fruit. My life is so far from perfect, but I can tell you that I am a different apple on the vine of Jesus than I would be on my own vine. And because I draw my life strength from Him instead of myself, I am no longer strengthened or satisfied by things that are meant to self-satisfy.

Last night I was brought to joyful tears when I got the news that someone I had been praying for (but honestly had not thought about for a while) has been grafted onto the vine of Jesus.(Metaphor-talk for: this person acknowledged that she had sinned and separated herself from God, and trusted in Jesus to both forgive all of her sins and to take charge of her life – Jesus became the source of her life.)

Already, there are signs of a completely different attitude and approach to life in this individual – which brought me to think: how could someone who has not experienced the same transformation understand what it is like to become part of the family of God??? Jesus already had this metaphor covered (for real, read this) but it struck me with a new depth a few minutes ago.

 Try to keep up:

• You are a branch on a tree that is either dead or straight up nasty.
•  “Jesus put me on your tree!,” you say, “I’m straight up nasty and don’t have true life!”
•  Jesus grafts you onto his tree and says, “I hope you like things that taste really good, because we only produce awesome fruit here. Just stay with me child.”  
•  All of a sudden your life/“fruit” IS DIFFERENT. And more delicious each day that you are on Jesus’ vine.
•  PLOT TWIST: this tree doesn’t die. Once your old tree is straight up rotted out, you still gon’ be with Jesus. 4EVR.

Evidently this doesn’t have anything to do with Rio, but significant things for me usually take place internally – hence my lack of event upkeep over here. I’ve also promised myself to blog right away once I get hit with a thought, because if I wait too long I will complicate any insight and confuse it until it disappears into nothing.

So hopefully this marks a new beginning for this blog – a new strain of apple ;)

Love you guys – whoever you are. Nothing could possibly make me happier than for you to join me on the tasty tree.