October 25, 2013

Here's my thought of the day: On Walnuts and People....

The house we currently live in has a huge walnut tree out front. It provides wonderful shade and a bazillion walnuts falling almost constantly. I am allergic to nuts, and my immediate family members are not big walnut fans, so the fruit is not much good for us, but family members and friends have expressed a desire for some, and so I've collected many bags of them. 

The thing about walnuts (if you've never seen a tree) is that most of them don't fall looking like that pretty little brown nut that you see in the mixed nuts at the supermarket. A few do (and that is much easier on me!) but most fall with part or all of the green or black shell around it still in tact. I decided last week while I was home nursing my babies who had surgery that I would shell some and dry them and put them in bags for a family member. I quickly picked up the "pretty" ones, and upon cracking them, discovered that some of them were perfect and good, but many of them were shriveled, un-usable, or even rancid. When I began shelling some of the ones that were seemingly ugly or tattered, I discovered the same thing. Some were bad, but some of the most undesirable ones had the most beautiful fruit inside. 
I think people are the same way. We put the "beautiful" people on a pedestal without really checking to see what kind of people they really are on the inside. Some of them are as beautiful on the inside as they are on the outside, but some of them are ugly, or even rancid on the inside. Often we judge those who are not deemed as "beautiful" or "desirable" as lesser or not worth our time or attention. But if we take time to get to know them, we may discover some of the most beautiful fruit comes from these people. 

Moral of the story: When judging people (or walnuts) make sure you see what's inside first.