Apple Pickin'

Excerpt of Apple Tree by Erykah Badu

You see, I picks my friends like I pick my fruit.

My Ganny taught me that when I was only a youth.

I don't walk around tryna be what I'm not.

I don't waste my time tryna get what you got.

I work at pleasin me cause I can't please you.

And that's why I do what I do.

My soul flies free like a willow tree.

doo wee doo wee doo weeeeee...

These days, how many of us really know how to pick fruit? What do you know about ripeness? Firmness? Color? Texture? How many days to leave the crop on the vine?

With no apple pickin’ frame of reference, you will continue to tend to your garden of friends, “associates,” mates and every other aspect of your life with a fast food mentality; only concerned about the speed and resourcefulness that the drive thru has to offer, instead of the quality of the harvest.

Ever wonder why people turn their nose up when you come around or why you’re physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually drained senseless? Ever wonder why you don’t feel loved or appreciated, maybe even stepped on or beat up? Ever wonder why you have aches and pains, sadness and sorrow? Ever wonder why people only tell you their distraught sob stories full of anguish or deceit? Ever wonder why you feel weighed down, listless, endlessly searching for a better day? Stop! and ask yourself if you’ve been selecting spoiled, rotten, stinky, worm filled fruit. The kind with bumps and bruises, moldy membranes, fading vibrancy, lacking any prospect of generating seeds (which indicates the inability to produce new life, you know.)

Stop feeding yourself, your life, and your time thoughtlessly. Replace those prickly vines with flourishing vegetation. New life should be sprouting all around you. So go to the garden and do a thump test. If the quality of the produce in your life is hollow and flavorless, maybe you have some pruning to do.

Frankly, you need to ask yourself a few more questions. Are you a producer or are you the smelly, gnat attracting fruit in the room? Do you infuse energy and light in every situation or do you turn stomachs after one look or conversation? Do you overindulge at the vending machine of eye candy or do you have a discerning, meticulous, and distinguishing palate?

Make sure you bring something to the table of life. Reaping a high quality yield should be your goal. –Hosea 10:12. Don’t just leave the crop of your life to chance. Tend to it. Nurture it. Learn to be selective. Take inventory of all that you’ve gathered, then apply the lessons of Apple Pickin’.