Bitter Fruit

Citrus fruits are amazing.  I will eat nearly anything that has a hint of lime!  There is nothing more flavorful than a roasted chicken marinated in garlic and lime with a bit of cilantro.  My mouth waters just thinking about it!  And the kids and I will drop anything to munch on a bag of Tostitos with a hint of lime!  But citrus doesn't end there... Lemons are so powerful and good!  A little zest of lemon skin sends dressings, sauces, salads, etc, over the top!  Lemon juice is one of the basic ingredients in any kitchen.  Sweets made with lemons are always at the top of my list, starting with my childhood favorite of lemon drops and moving on the the tart and tangy lemon squares that never fail to make me close my eyes and smile. 

There are far more varieties of citrus than you could imagine!  One of my favorite flavors of all times is yuzu, or citron.  It is a peppery, bitter, slightly sweet citrus that you just have to try, but my very favorite fruit just might be the pomelo.  Its flavors are similar to the yuzu but a bit more mellow. 

One year, Wayne and I were given several boxes of tangerines, oranges, citrons and pomelos.  We were glad to have them, but we had so much that we realized we couldn't actually eat the fruit before it went bad.  Our plan was to juice them all and freeze the juice so that we would have that wonderfully fresh flavor any time we wanted it.  We started by pressing the juice from each fruit, but we soon realized that this method would take forever.  We came up with the brilliant idea to peel the outer skin and then completely blend the fruit.  We next strained the juice through a sieve and captured only the sweet and precious golden nectar.  This was working out wonderfully until we got to the last batch.  At this point, we had been working for several hours, and the last batch had sweet tangerines and a few random citrus fruits, including pomelo and citron.  It took quite some time to peel and prepare the fruit, so we started in.  Wayne and I began to have some discussion as to whether or not we should include the more bitter fruit in our juice.  I assured him that it would be delicious (I happen to love grapefruit juice and thought this batch would be especially good). 

We finished the last bit, patted ourselves on the back for all the hard work and poured ourselves a glass...it was horrible!  I'm talking about turn-your-mouth-inside-out-and-kill-your-taste-buds horrible!  We had spent so much time on it, too.  It was so very disappointing that all of the tangerines were wasted like that.  What we had failed to think about was that when you eat both citron and pomelo, you should go as far as to remove the membranes that surround each segment.  They are too bitter to be eaten, and that intense bitterness had flavored the entire gallon of juice. 

Proverbs 18:21 tells us that "the tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit."  This is a sobering verse to say the least!  We have the ability to bring so much life and joy and purpose to everyone around us...but in that same manner, we have the ability to bring destruction through the impact of our words.  I wish that I could say that every word that has escaped my mouth has had a sweet and pleasant taste, but it just isn't so.  I have experienced the lingering bitterness of the fruit of my lips on more than one occasion.  My tongue is my undoing, it seems.  No matter how hard I try on my own, words escape my mouth that should have never surfaced. 

Being closely encased in family is probably the perfect breeding ground for such moments.  We love the people around us so much, but because of our love for them, we can become easily disappointed when we see that they aren't reaching their full potential.  It is all too easy to say things that are hurtful.  We should learn to filter what we say through the wisdom of the Holy Spirit.  This is much easier said than done, but it is well worth the time that it takes to practice and perfect this godly skill.  I often have to ask myself, "Would I say this to a person that I hardly knew?"  If I wouldn't dare, then why in the world would I say it to someone whom I love so much?  Apologies go a long way towards sweetening the fruit. 

It was amazing how a few bitter fruits could spoil the juice of fifty or more super sweet tangerines.  I would never have imagined the power of a handful of bitter over a multitude of good.  We should keep this in mind when speaking.  The enemy will take the few harsh words that are spoken and taint every wonderful thing that we say with the memory of the pain of those few words. 

Keep it sweet!  After all, you will be the one eating the fruit!