There is something incredible about holding a piece of freshly picked fruit in your hand. Here in Southern California, fresh fruit is a constant companion. Out my back door, we grow apple, orange, tangerine and grapefruit trees.
It is one of life's simple pleasures to go out and allow the ripened product to literally drop in your hand at the slightest touch and pull. It is the natural completion of the yearly cycle of dormant winters, springtime blossom aromas and sun-kissed summer days that all lead to the moment of triumphal harvest.
Such sweet and fond thoughts were recently dampened by tidings out of the Middle East. There from this original fruitful land that God described as "a land flowing with milk and honey" (Exodus 3:8) comes news of agricultural ruin. It comes as a result of the conflict between the nation of Israel and the terrorist entity known as Hezbollah.
Wars can be complex, so much so that we talk about "the fog of war," because the picture of what's really happening can at best be shrouded in layers of intrigue and misperceptions. That's why often a picture is worth a thousand words. Such a picture can tell what went wrong, as well as what needs to be made right.
A different harvest
Such a simple picture of this complex Middle East tragedy from the Los Angeles Times jolted me into reality. It portrayed the utter contrast between the sweet tastiness of fruit and the distasteful nature of war. This picture allowed me to wander right behind the photographer into a small clearing in an orchard. There standing in an attentive and cautious pose was a fully uniformed and armed Israeli soldier with his finger on the trigger of his machine gun.
