Olives, olives!

I have decided to take the info from the previous month and upload it to my Blog. That way, people can go back and read it if they're interested! Here is September's rant!

I love olives. I eat them any time of the day. In fact, I'm pretty sure I could live on nothing but olives... all day, every day. I've heard that in Turkey and Greece that "no meal is complete without olives." I agree with that. Green olives, black olives, olives in oil, olives from a can, olives in a dish, olives by themselves... seriously... I have an olive addiction.

So I started thinking about what olives symbolize in the world at large. There's the whole idea that olives represent prosperity and well-being. From my church-going days, I remember Psalm 128:3, "Your wife will be like a fruitful vine inside your house; Your children will be like young olive trees around your table." I probably remember that because the psalm actually mentions kids in a positive note. And... well... it talks about olives. Even then I had a healthy obsession with the fruit. But the olive trees in the psalm represent an abundant harvest, a good yield, a fertile farm which easily provides for the family. Olives, then, are the food which lightens the load, growing well and thriving over time.

Yet, they also are the food of the fabled "olive branch," which symbolizes peace. When the olive branch is offered in the midst of argument or war, the fighting ceases. Silence ensues. And opposing sides meet to discuss terms of withdrawal and the end of hostilities. One little branch, one small fruit, and yet it has the possibility of bringing so much happiness and contentment to all. If only it is given the chance.

Many times we forget about our own possibilities. We lock-step ourselves into our current lives without taking a moment to look around at our own unique skills. A lot of times these skills and possibilties are never explored. We are told that we "can not possibly" do any number of things that seem right and perfect to us. We can't create magic because it's make-believe. We can't sail on the open seas because we don't have a boat. We can't defeat our worst nightmare because it's always been there. We can't do... well, whatever it is we want to do... because we're small, big, old, young, a boy, a girl... fill in the excuse of the day.

In the end, the excuses don't matter. They are simply shields behind which we are hidden, by others and by ourselves. The simple olive does not hide. It thrives in the sun, reaching toward the life-giving rays. Our lives can be like that, forever reaching upward and out to bask in the sun of our own possibilities, forever growing and expanding into the reality of our own marvelous skin. Like the olive, we can forever change the world, enjoy the world, explore the world and ourselves, if we but try. And believe.