Bearing Fruit

  In Psalm 92:12-15 there is commentary on the righteous.  I was struck by the line that says even when they are old and gray they will bear fruit.  I hope that I am in that category.  Certainly I am old and gray.  The part of continuing to bear fruit may be the question to answer.  I would like to think that bearing fruit could mean continually offering my service wherever I am by starting with the question: "What can I do for you today?"   I shocked my wife when I asked her that  this morning,   She was thrilled to immediately lay out a task for me.   And I've already done it.
     I cant take credit for originating the question.  During my round trip delivering Red Cross blood to West Henrietta, New York last night I listened to an audio book, The Road Home by Richard Paul Evans where person in a troubled marriage redeemed himself by putting this question to his wife of several years each day.    And then carrying out her wishes.  I am inclined to think that this is question we can use to improve our lives in any relationship or even a casual encounter.  We can bear fruit in so many ways.
     There was more to the Evans book as a model for redemption.  The primary character was on a journey to redemption after a fantastically successful writing and speaking tour that hurt both his family and members of society.  As a multimillionaire, he goes off the grid after a plane crash ends up declaring him dead because he was mistakenly on the manifest.  Off the grid he decides to walk the entire Route 66 from Chicago to California.  In the process he finds himself and turns from his narcissism to become a philanthropist redeeming the lives of the disadvantaged.   He found a way to overcome his self centeredness and begin to reach out in the sense of actively pursuing how he could reach out and do something for someone else.
      I would guess that all of us have narcissistic tendencies.   I know that I can become obsessed with getting in my time on the slopes.   And more than once I have rushed ahead of my companions to get first tracks on some new powder.  Also, I need to be more aware of the needs of my skier widow wife during the ski season.  I'll even forgo hitting the slopes if the answer to my question to her of:  "What can I do for you today?"  requires immediate attention.