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Our September Pastoral
Letter is provided by

Karen Naylor
from Wareham URC

By their fruit you will know them

Watching a blackbird greedily pecking
at grapes in my garden, I’m amazed that my sprawling vine has
managed to produce tresses of luscious fruit despite the dryness.
Having given it a John 15 style pruning in the spring, the remaining
branches are now drawing on the abundant life forces flowing from
the ancient trunk: if the vine were merely surviving, there might be
leaves, but the many dangling fruit bunches show that this is a very
well-nourished and, therefore, productive plant.

As I watched my hungry visitor, I reflected that this fruit comes from
an OVER abundance of life in the parent plant.

Fruit, of course, comes in so many different forms and from many
places: bananas and oranges from southeast Asia, avocados and
pineapples from South America and olives from the Med, not to
mention our Kent apples. Some fruit, like blackberries, grows wild
whilst most are cultivated.

Each fruit is different, all are beautiful (even Ugli fruit!) and every
one of them is useful, (not to mention delicious - just ask my
blackbird!). Some just get on with fruiting whilst most get attention
and care. Most importantly, all very clearly show that there is a
healthy relationship between fruit and parent plant.

The 9 Fruits of the Spirit mentioned in Galatians 5:22-23 (love, joy,
peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and
self-control) are qualities which reflect God's character.

As Christians, we can only display these fruits if we’re living in
accordance with his Spirit: John 15 gives us the Vine analogy (i.e.
Jesus the Vine who nourishes and provides life), branches on the

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