Catherine
The Olive, pitted, anchovy filled, pimento pepper filled, stone in, marinaded in garlic, etc etc. In my mind none of the jazzing up can take away from the fact that they are deceptive grapes. Deceptive because I reckon they look like sweet fruit, and then you bite into them and euuuggghh, the olive taste hits you. It is one of the few foods I really don't eat.
Often things which are subtley different can take us off path in our faith. Things which have the appearance of something good actually are not. Olives are wolves in sheeps clothing. Deceptive grapes. Beware, often what looks like good is the enemy of the best.
David
Well, of course it is true that looks can be deceptive and for sure doing good instead of best is a common mistake. But olives? They are wonderful! They make the best oil ever, eating them makes you live till at least 120 and they taste great!
Sometimes it's not the item that is the problem, it's our perception. Sometimes we need to realign our taste... I reckon that's how the world works - it has molded us into ways of thinking about right and wrong so that now when we see what is really good, we see it as bad. Olives aren't bad - they're not deceptive grapes, they're just not designed to be sweet, they're designed to taste like, well, olives!
Catherine
That said, I still think there are things that have the look of being good, but actually are tasteless or worse. For example:
The attractive, grape like fallacy that says the bigger the better that actually turns out to be an olive, sucking all energy into maintaining the engine of the organisation. Or the idea that we need 'quality time' with our kids, our partner, our God - meaning we don't have to spend lots of time with them. Or at a global level, the idea that we should have more and more, because then we would have extra to give to those who have less...
David
Fair points, still can't get the picture of olives as wolves in sheep's clothing out of my mind though... and to be honest I'm still concerned that we shy away from the 'mature' flavours of perseverance, self-denial, integrity and love and run to the seemingly sweet fruit on offer in the world; being economical with the truth, promiscuity, greed...
Both
Actually I found the bit David wrote rather funny; reckon my view on olives is so entrenched that its going to take a lot of realigning of my taste though... maybe we need help from others to persist in getting us to realign our taste buds.... honest accountability maybe?
And maybe some of my pet likes that others find tasteless are actually tasteless or even poisonous - maybe I have it wrong - again, we need one another, iron sharpening iron - allowing God to define what is true and right.
Probably, it means deliberately inviting people with contrary views into our lives rather than surrounding ourselves with like-minded people. Then we can all benefit from thinking allowed...
Olive anyone?
Another stunner!! You two should right a book!! Thank-you! Helen W
ReplyDeleteNatalie Edwards Personally HATE olives... but what came to mind as i read this is how many things we accept as good or ok but actually are bad - such as books we read and films we watch. It's a bit like the frog in hot water scenario. We've become immuned to so much that's shoved at us as being normal, ok, good. I've been challenged to read things that point me to God. To absorb Godly values rather than worldly ones. I'm enjoying the Christian novel i'm currently reading so much. No more trashy novels for me!
ReplyDeleteI agree with the picture of 'things' as wolves in sheep's clothing' but moreover I think too many people are also 'wolves in sheep's clothing'. Hypocrites, maybe.
ReplyDeleteI understand the meaning of 'like-minded people' but don't understand the concept; ideally I think I should be a recluse; I'm not like other people, have no worthwhile qualities but what you see and get is all 'wolf'. People are better off without me around them.
Olives, now you are talking! I Love them any which way black,green,pitted stuffed, marinaded I don't mind and I can assure you Catherine they are not wannabe grapes, there is no deception in olives.Olives are Olives.
ReplyDeleteI suppose at a quick glance you could mistake an Olive for a grape but as you know it's all in the taste. I know olives are salty to the taste but they are also very good for you and their oil is the best. Grapes are sweet and can make a very lovely wine, we need both.
Both need pruning to stay healthy so whether you are a grape or an olive you need to recognise who and what you are, learn to love yourself despite everything and allow the master pruner to do His work.
Olives - when I was a kid a) we didn't have olives in our house b) when I tried one of these 'exotic' things round someone else's I spat it out because it tasted disgusting! Now I am older and wiser (?), more mature (??), I somehow have grown to love them. Adore them! How did that happen? Gave them another go I guess. And perhaps another, then another chance at becoming 'ok'. Then they leapt into the object of choice for a healthy snack, a certain 'je ne sais quoi' for my pizzas or fine dining.
ReplyDeleteAnd of course the health benefits! They may be best thing in my diet (as in what I eat, not slimming plan).
I get both your points - I was in one place, now another. And it is thought provoking. How many things, issues, people out there have I given less chance to prove themselves, to show off their true worth, than the humble olive? What do miss out on through lack of perseverance and, let's face it, grace.
thanks guys.
Anthea
I like olives better than grapes, but you have to pick the right ones. Bad olives are dry and/or bitter. Hence, in a few weeks I'll be in the market in Durres (Albania), first looking at the various offers of olives from the various vendors. Looks are important, but knowing where they came from is vital, too. Also, how they've been cared for since picking is vital. (Roots, soil, climate, nurture, etc. all matter.) Then once I narrow down the vendor and variety, I'll "taste and see". Even an attractive appearance and the "right soil" can produce bitter fruit. Buyer beware! (And in the context of this metaphor and blog, reader beware, watcher beware, mentee beware, student beware, etc.).
ReplyDeleteOf course, the redeeming reality, for a bad olive, is that even bitter ones can bring joy to my palate by going through the extreme pressure of the olive press -- yielding olive oil and therefore suddenly gaining the ability to transform a risotto, salad, or even grilled cornbread into something sublime (I recommend a bit of grated parmesan cheese on the cornbread, too).
Something else I've noticed: a few of my Albanian friends prefer olives that surely any objective taste-test would deem inferior. When I ask why, they reply that when growing up, these were the only kind of olives they had. They developed a taste (I'd say more like an immunity) for them. They enjoy the old ways. They don't seem to know (or care) what they're missing. Hmmmm.
I've had similar thoughts recently - not about olives - but about truth and how we think about truth.
ReplyDeleteIs someone heretical because they think universalism is a possibility because of the depth of redemption Christ achieved at the cross? Or are they just broad minded?
Are they a wolf in sheep's clothing?
Where is the boundary between interpreting truth and living in truth? When is it ok to live in the security of truth? How did Jesus think about truth, being truth himself?
Are we seeing grapes instead of olives - which makes us wrong; what lee-way is there in re-interpretation? After all, olives are not grapes.