The Fruitful Life

We want our life to be meaningful and to have purpose. We also desire to have some impact for good on others and on our world. We want our life to be fruitful. Fruitfulness, however, is very differently understood by different people.

Some see a life given to prayer as a fruitful life. Other see a life given to a social activism and caring for the poor as a fruitful life. Some see in terms of healing.. Others see it in successful and important secular career. Some see in terms of virtue, other in terms of productivity. Clearly we will measure fruitfulness differently depending on the values we hold.

We are often think of the fruitful life is springing from strenght, power, and overflow. But we soon learn that we often have more to give when we are open, vulnerable and aware of our own limitations.

Fruitfulness, moreover, is enhanced when our life is characterised by thankfulness, appreciation and gratitude. This allow us to appropriate the good that comes our way. So much of that we can nurture us is carelessly thrown away because we don't appreciate the many little blessing that we receive. Instead we are often unthankful, we grumble and are so focused on future expectations that we don't see the daily good that so unexpectedly.

Finally, fruitfulness, is sustained by care. We need to watch over the seeds of hope. We need to care for what we are and have. We need to channel our resources. We cannot be haphazard or wasteful or slothful and expect to be fruitful. The nourishing sources of life need to be constantly tapped less we find ourselves in a position where much is expected of us while we have little to give.