Operation Fruit Basket

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Dear Friends,

I just shared this story as I promised to a friend here, and I thought it might be light reading and an uplifting example to proclaim God’s everlasting love and providence.

One day in late summer, I had a strong craving for fresh fruit, especially the melons which are so sweet when they are in season. My grocery store was only a couple of blocks away, so I locked up and went outside intending to get in my car and drive over there.

Before I got to my car, my next door neighbor who was on his lawn, called out, Carole, do you want some fruit? I replied that I was actually about to go and buy some. He said, no, these ladies have some for us. I then noticed a couple women crossing the street in the direction of my home with two large baskets of cello-wrapped fruit in them.

Since I believed they were selling them, I was a bit anxious to get moving, since I could not spend the kind of money that fruit baskets cost, and because I lived alone, it would probably be more fruit than I could possibly eat. But my neighbor said that they were free, and to greet them when they came over.

In my journal, I attached for permanent remembrance, the note that was stapled to the basket handle:

OPERATION "BEAR FRUIT"
As the Lord continues to bless our church, we felt it is important to carry this blessing to our community. Please accept and enjoy this fruit basket with our prayers and best wishes for you and your family.

Now in God’s world, there are no coincidences, so I felt certain that He wanted to teach me something, since the timing of my craving for fruit was simultaneous with it being fulfilled by the donation of these women.

Knowing that God often speaks through my little devotional, “God Calling,” I was all aglow to learn His words to me. This was the reading for that very day, August 8th: (In order not to exceed the word limits of forum software, I’ll shorten it some)
Rely on Me alone. Pay all out in the spirit of trust that more will come to meet your supply. So much retained by you, so much the less will be gained from Me. It is a Law of Divine Supply. When you ask Me to save you from the sea of poverty and difficulty, you must trust wholly to Me.
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I sensed that God was showing me in this incident that He would be the benefactor of all my inmost desires — He promises to be my Divine Supply for everything, both spiritual and material, and asks that I trust Him completely to provide.

This happened sometime early in the 1990’s, and I have to say that in every instance, this has been true, even when things looked their darkest. May these words of Our Lord as expressed in the book, serve to enlighten and encourage all who read them.

Incidentally, the church was not Catholic. I promtly sent the pastor a note expressing my gratitude and thanks for their wonderful example and charity!

Carole
 
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Joysong:
Now in God’s world, there are no coincidences, so I felt certain that He wanted to teach me something
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Hi Carole -

I really enjoyed your story!

What you say here is so true . . . and this a favorite theme of a very wise priest I know who has helped me very much a long the way.

Yes, God often teaches us through what others might simply call coincidences . . . of that I’m sure.

In fact I’m marveling a bit about the timing of this thread as I currently find myself “learning my way through” a series of coincidences that I “noticed” in my own life the last couple of weeks or so.

Good to see you again 🙂

Dave.
 
It is always so good to see you, too, Dave…

With regard to coincidences, I hesitated after reading your words, because it could mean disaster for an inexperienced person who reads this. It would be better for me to explain this further, I think.

When something happens that powerfully grabs our attention, such as the timing of my being provided with fruit at the moment of desire, it is well to notice that I looked for confirmation that God was speaking to me.

In that sense, it was no longer coincidence when I found the words in my book speaking to my heart and strengthening me with the inner witness of the Holy Spirit. He alone can give that deep peace and inner assurance to our spirits, that we are hearing His truth.

I would like to caution the reader that this is God’s more usual manner of teaching the soul. We ought not to rely solely on the circumstance of coincidence itself, but afterwards take it to prayer and ask Him to reveal to us its meaning. It amazes me how wonderfully He gets all the ducks in a row so that it becomes wonderfully clear to our understanding.
 
Wow … what an amazing incident. I’ve seen that “God Calling” book. It’s actually from the 1930s.
 
Hello old friend, Buzzcut!

Gee, so this is a classic from the 30’s huh? How nice to see it reborn, as it were, for the date in my book shows copyrighting in 1989 by Barbour & Co., Inc.

I enjoy it because each day’s reading is never more than two pages, and it is in the format of Jesus speaking intimately to the soul. I don’t look to it exclusively for inspiration, for God teaches in a multitude of ways, but it has been among my favorites.

And you know, Buzz? We don’t have to rely on supernatural visions or locutions to know Him. I relish it ever so much more to observe Him at work in our ordinary daily lives, with such astounding and precise detail.

I’m sure you know, since you are so very to God, how often He correlates the scriptures from our daily and Sunday Mass readings with some things going on in our lives. I spoke with another member here on Sunday that was deeply moved by a song that was used at Mass. God’s Word is living!

With His peace and joy,
Carole
 
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Joysong:
When something happens that powerfully grabs our attention, such as the timing of my being provided with fruit at the moment of desire, it is well to notice that I looked for confirmation that God was speaking to me.
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So true!
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Joysong:
It amazes me how wonderfully He gets all the ducks in a row so that it becomes wonderfully clear to our understanding.
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This is precisely the meaning behind when I said “noticed” in my post.

Thanks for the clarifications! I think they were implied in everything said thusfar but maybe it’s helpful that they be explicitly stated.

Dave.
 
Hi Dave,

May I never offend you, as you are so special a person to me.

I hope you did not understand my “clarification” as being directed either to you or your post. You are a wise son who knows the Master’s ways. But there are people who may have misread my story to believe that everything that has an extraordinary circumstance must be from God, and then set about to act upon it. :eek: A potential spiritual disaster in the making, prompting me to be especially clear for the sake of our lambs.

Carole
 
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Joysong:
May I never offend you . . .

I hope you did not understand my “clarification” as being directed either to you or your post.
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Oh for gosh sakes, no 😃

You know it never ceases to amaze me how people pick up on different things in these threads. It just so happened that the whole concept of “coincidences” just jumped out at me since that happens to be on my mind right now.

I left much unsaid about all of this on purpose so my post was probably on the vague side . . . you provided numerous good points that extended the thought process and added meaning to a broader audience.

So rather than being offended, I thank you! 🙂

Dave.
 
We ought not to rely solely on the circumstance of coincidence itself, but afterwards take it to prayer and ask Him to reveal to us its meaning.
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What wonderful advice! I do notice those coincidence but never take them to prayer.
We don’t have to rely on supernatural visions or locutions to know Him. I relish it ever so much more to observe Him at work in our ordinary daily lives, with such astounding and precise detail.
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Isn’t that the truth!

It’s nice to see all of you. Ya’ll are some of my favorite posters to read.

Peace,
Jen
 
Hi Jen,

Yes, it really is nice when we all come together again, even if it is just in a thread — like we’re family, I believe. http://forum.catholic.com/images/smilies/smile.gif

I’m so glad you will be taking some of these things to prayer, for God sends them as special gifts to us, but sometimes we need a leap of faith to recognize that He is speaking. If this story helps anyone to catch that spark, it has been worth writing it.

Pardon if I share another incident that is not so full of promise as the last one, but it demonstrates how God rebukes us and shows us our errors - never in the harsh manner of us poor humans (!), but ever so kindly as to be fully accepted by the soul.

You may know how much I love gardening. One day when I was outdoors doing some tidying, the neighbor at the rear of my home called to me to approach her. Curious, I asked her if something was wrong, and she asked me to look at my tree which was on the lot line separating our homes. Horrified, I saw that the whole of it that faced her lot was all worm-eaten with hardly any leaves and was full of their webs.

I had never noticed it because from my side of the fence, it was beautiful and without a sign whatsoever of anything being wrong with it. Instinctively, I realized this was highly unusual and asked God to show me the meaning of the living parable. It took awhile, but I just knew I’d find it fairly soon, so all my antennae were on the lookout for messages about the caterpillars.

Bingo! One day when I was reading St. Teresa’s Life, I found these words:
If any person wishing to make progress in spiritual matters finds that he is becoming punctilious about his reputation, let him believe what I say and put this attachment right behind him, for it is a chain which no file can sever: only God can break it with the aid of prayer and great effort on our part. (snip)

If they fail to remove this caterpillar, it may not hurt the whole tree, for some of the other virtues will remain, but they will all be worm-eaten. The tree will not be beautiful. (Chapter XXXI, almost towards the end)
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I forgot to mention that before I found this passage, I asked a few experienced gardeners what to do for my tree. At that time there was no chemical solution for bag-worms, so they told me to torch the tree and burn it, and that the next year it would be fine.

So I walked through and lived the parable. When I found St. Teresa’s words, I realized that God, my heavenly Gardener, would begin a treatment that would be painful to me, but it would torch my bugs. In my way of seeing myself, there was nothing wrong, but in full view of my neighbor who had eyes to see, I was full of them!

Maybe you remember many months ago how strongly I wrote about these “points of honor” in one of St. Teresa’s threads. I had a powerful life lesson, accompanied by trial, through which God showed me how harmful they are. And of course, our holy Mother St. Teresa, who also lived her own advice, wrote to warn us about this.

And may this, too, bring blessing to you all!

Carole
 
Dear Carole

Well, good and sincere friend to let you know I am pleased to see you share these experiences at last!

Everything is grace no matter how small or how large. We need to recognise these graces and grasp hold of them and thank God daily for them.

Thank you and God Bless you and much love and peace to you

Good to see you DBT, Buzzcut and Jen, God Bless you and much love and peace to you

Teresa

p.s. I still have my copy of that most beautiful little book 🙂
 
Dear Carole

You know this very minute it struck me like lightening how you couldn’t have possibly ever have noticed in these experiences God’s voice silently speaking to you heart if you were not recollected to Him, living in His Presence and ‘contemplating’ Him in your heart. You have a beautiful Carmelite spirit.

I wrote this and posted it on another forum but it’s apt for sticking in here in your thread as your thread friend is deeper than the light subject you first set out to pose…anyway here’s the little bit of writing what strickingly applies to what you have said…bolded bits apply
To love we must contemplate God by His grace and then arrive at our own nothingness in the gazing upon Him and arriving here we recognise all is grace and arriving here we must grow to hate the self and pray for it’s death and arriving here we are re-created by God’s grace and then arrive at truly living. To truly live is to love and live in love and anyone who lives in love lives in God and God in them. This being the case then such a soul cannot keep this love contained within themselves, love is uncontainable, it flows out and is received again from the source, God, an unfathomably deep well of grace, that is unending. Love cannot be exhausted nor extinguished, it lives and it gives life to others.

To clothe the naked and feed the poor is an expression of love, but it is merely our Catholic duty, we can only say of this that we did our duty, it is our guilt that the poor remain as they do, it is therefore just that we clothe and feed, however love in it’s essence cannot be seen as an item of clothing or a piece of bread, it is much more than this, those being expressions of love, to gift love rather is to gift self and to gift self is to allow another into the heart and allowing them into the heart we forget self and only perceive of the other. To perceive of the other is to then enter into their heart, no heart can refuse such a heart that truly loves, if they do refuse such a heart then they do not know the heart they are refusing or knowing the heart they become uncomfortable and angry at this heart, even envious of it and attack it because such a heart would illuminate the love that they lack. Some may call it compassion, but it is much more than this, it is self-sacrifice for the other, it is passion rather than compassion.

There are many ways to give a piece of bread to another, you can throw it at them, you can do it begrudgingly, you can do it just to trade a place in heaven as a selfish motive, you can do it because guilt drives you to do it, you can do it out of pride to look good and be seen to be doing good, you can do it but regret it counting the cost of doing so, you can do it with an amount of compassion, you can do it with some sympathy, but Love has no limit, it gives the bread with passion, with passion for the whole person, for the total good of the whole person, it gives and continues to give in all manner of ways in the simple handing of bread to a person. The person who receives bread from such a soul will wonder at their love and where it comes from, will ponder on their giving, will recognise their giving and ministry is of Love and will recognise the source of that love. This is the only Love, this is the Love Who died on the Cross, this is God, this is God Who died for the life of men and lives so that men may also live and this is the Love we must be re-created into the likeness of; a daily living prayer, a daily living love, a daily living sacrifice, a daily living bloodless martyr, a daily living image of the Creator, a daily Christ Jesus to each other united to His sufferings and in this our impoverished offering is of merit. In seeing Christ Jesus in another and being Christ Jesus to another so God is gifted daily to others, this is true Love for our brothers and sisters by God’s grace. This is the true self, Christ Jesus. This is our purpose and ministry.

It is in essence knowing our nothingness, counting all we do as nothing, giving everything away of our ‘self’ so that we possess nothing of the self ,knowing everything is God’s grace and remaining at the source of our sustenance, the centre of our true self Christ Jesus. It is living in the Presence of God unified in Him at all times, praying unceasingly in life, word and deed. It is the heart that is ready, the heart that says yes without asking why, the heart that has looked upon God and thus cannot refuse, the heart that has forgotten itself and sees only in truth, God.

This gifting of more than bread is the Eucharist, this is the total gift of self, this is what transforms us, is our sustenance, is Christ Jesus.
 
Dear Teresa,

You honor me with such kind words, but I trust that you are able to see beyond me and touch the Christ within. I received a very inspiring scripture from another member this morning and it speaks of our desires: (2 Cor.3:2-3) You are our letter, written in our hearts, which is known and read by all men. Clearly you are a letter of Christ … written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God …" May all of us who are family here be fruitful living letters through our sharing Christ.
This being the case then such a soul cannot keep this love contained within themselves, love is uncontainable, it flows out and is received again from the source, God,
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an unfathomably deep well of grace, that is unending. Love cannot be exhausted nor extinguished, it lives and it gives life to others.

Last Wednesday for the feast of St. John Lateran Church, I thought a lot about the first reading, which corresponds with your words above: Ezekiel 47:9-12
Wherever this river flows, every sort of living creature that can multiply shall live … for wherever this water comes, the sea shall be made fresh
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. Along both banks of the river, fruit trees of every kind shall grow; their leaves shall not fade, nor their fruit fail. Every month they shall bear fresh fruit, for they shall be watered by the flow from the sanctuary. Their fruit shall serve for food, and their leaves for medicine."
I know this will easily speak to you, Teresa, for you are able to read it spiritually and relish its deeper meaning. When I saw your message, I couldn’t help but remember the similar example last week.

Your friend in Christ and Carmel,
Carole
 
Teresa,
It is a blessing to see how your spiritual growth has flourished. What a wonderful thing to write. The many threads to “what is love” come to mind that have been popping up on the different forums. How well put that “agape” love which Christ has for us and we are called to show each other.

Wonderful, wonderful. It is a blessing to have you here.

Peace, Jen
 
Hi again, Teresa,
To perceive of the other is to then enter into their heart, no heart can refuse such a heart that truly loves, if they do refuse such a heart then they do not know the heart they are refusing or knowing the heart they become uncomfortable and angry at this heart, even envious of it and attack it because such a heart would illuminate the love that they lack.
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I guess I concentrated more fully on the bolded part of your message, and I almost overlooked this powerful paragraph. There truly is a lot to think about and meditate upon, for sure.

It is beyond my comprehension how Jesus was so loathed by those who put Him to death out of envy. Love incarnate . . . scorned, hated, crucified! Somehow when we read the gospels, it is easy to get the idea that because Jesus opposed their thinking and chided them, that He did not love them - oh, my Jesus, how far from the truth!

Gods grace and peace be with you always,
Carole
 
Dear Carole

Yes it is hard to perceive such a heart could ever be treated with such cruelty and hatred. Jesus Who thinks to send you gentle reminders of His Love in baskets of fruit and worms upon trees. Beautiful gentle heart of Jesus.

I went for a walk with a friend of mine and her dog a few days ago, she stooped down and said ‘Look a cross’ and there on the floor were two twigs exactly as a cross, she then had me looking and in all of that walk we only found one more cross in the form of twigs lying on the floor. A cross for each of us, as the Lord has said it is. A reminder of His Love for us and to remind us to love Him and each other.

Such generous gifting of self from our Lord Jesus is only repaid by dying to ourself, offering all of our miserable self to Him and in recreating us He gives us hearts of Love with which we love Him and each other. All is grace. Therefore the heart that has been recreated in Him should never spend a moment in sorrow for being ill-treated by others, they are only drinking the cup of their Saviour Who’s own heart was also treated so wretchedly. They must rejoice and offer everything as sacrifice and count everything as blessing.

God Bless you always Carole and much love and peace to you

Teresa
 
It just occurred to me that it was a year ago this Thanksgiving that many of us first got to know each other on one of the early Carmelite threads on this forum. My how time flies!!

It’s good to see some of the old faces again. Er, well you know what I mean 🙂

Dave.
 
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DBT:
It just occurred to me that it was a year ago this Thanksgiving that many of us first got to know each other on one of the early Carmelite threads on this forum. My how time flies!!

It’s good to see some of the old faces again. Er, well you know what I mean 🙂

Dave.
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Dear Dave

Good grief, time has flown! I was setting out on the Carmelite spirituality at that time and mightily confused and green behind the ears (do I hear cries of ‘not much change there then’? lol)

By the way less of the ‘old’:rotfl:

Good to see you Dave

God Bless you and much love and peace to you

Teresa
 
In sharing these two stories, I remembered a similar manner of God’s guidance as we read Jeremia’s story of the potter’s wheel and the two baskets of figs in the scriptures.

Ch. 18, “Rise up, be off to the potter’s house; there I will give you my message.” And again in Ch. 24, “What do you see, Jeremia? Figs, I replied.” After walking through the parables, the Lord explained to him the deeper spiritual significance.

I doubt these more special teachings take place very often, but mostly when they are a strong point of reference that God wishes to impress upon the soul to prepare and strengthen the person for what is to follow in their lives. These two scriptures from Isaiah are among my favorites in this regard:

Ch. 46:10, “At the beginning I foretell the outcome; in advance, things not yet done. I say that my plan shall stand. I accomplish my every purpose.”

Ch. 48:16-17, “Never from the beginning have I spoken in secret; at the time it comes to pass, I am present. I the Lord, your God, teach you what is for your good and lead you on the way you should go.” (And we remember from the psalms that the Shepherd always goes ahead of the sheep and leads them in good pastures)
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Teresa:
You know this very minute it struck me like lightening how you couldn’t have possibly ever have noticed in these experiences God’s voice silently speaking to you heart if you were not recollected to Him, living in His Presence and ‘contemplating’ Him in your heart.
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I agree with you, Teresa, that it is important for us to develop a spirit of recollection in order to *listen *and be alert to His solicitous care, for I believe God is most anxious and desirous of guiding His children. What Father wouldn’t be?

Carole
 
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