For those who are not aware, I am currently blessed to work as a nurse in the field of geriatrics at a long term care facility. I believe in a past post, I gave a brief summary of how I got into this area of nursing, and I definitely did not see myself here.
Anyway I have been blessed to work with some of the most incredible elders, who have already taught me so much about life – beyond the lessons that I need to marry a good man with money…. lool. I can sincerely say, I have gained so much from this opportunity and experience.
It was on a lovely day, working with some lovely- but can totally drive you nuts people- that I went to check on one of my clients. After doing a regular check up, she asked if everything was okay, and my response was “yes, as far as I can tell”. She said to me “I am like a radish”. Of course, I was confused, “like a radish?” I asked, “What do you mean?” She went on to say that radishes often look bright, beautiful, and red on the outside, but are often rotten on the inside, and at the moment she looks good outside but she isn’t doing too well on the inside. She is in her 90s, and doesn’t look 90… she walks strong, and definitely tries to maintain her independence. But internally things are not 100% though externally they seem that way.
This was the first time, I ever thought of a radish in this way. Radishes aren’t eaten regularly in my house. I have always seen them in the supermarket looking lovely but never thought that they had a reputation.
Of course what she said really did strike me, beyond what she meant- Like a radish? Hmmm.…..
Many of us are out here “like radishes” with beautiful outward appearances but are not looking good on the inside. We are pretending that our lives are red and rosy, but inside we are battling so much. We are beautiful on the outside but have nasty attitudes, and produce inedible fruit. We are beautiful on the outside but we are examples people use, when they say “all that glitters is not gold”.
Her statement unintentionally challenged me- like a radish?
How many of us have spent sooo much time, living in a state of falsehood, pretending to be whole, or pretending that things were great, while dying on the inside?
Like a radish?
How many of us live our lives pretending to be who we are not? Beautiful on the outside but really have nothing of substance? …. like a radish
I mean there are so many scenarios to think of, when “like a radish” comes up, but the point of this post is to remind us that our goal should be dealing with the WHOLE man.
And of course from a Christian perspective, I remember Jesus telling the Pharisees, that it is not what goes into a man’s mouth that defiles him, but what comes out of his mouth, because it is a demonstration of what is in his heart. He also reminded them that it was just as important to wash the inside of the cup, as it was to wash the outside.
He also said, that it is by our fruit we will be known. As people if we consider ourselves trees, producing fruit, we have to consider the kind of fruit we produce. If it’s like a radish…. then that means it looks good on the outside, but not so great on the inside, and who enjoys eating rotten fruit? Eating from someone’s tree, is interacting with a person- from a simple conversation to hiring them for a job. The fruit is the bitterness or humility they speak with, or the low/high quality work they produce.
If you have read past blog posts, you know I love writing about the inner workings of our heart, and not only Jesus’s command to ensure our inside is right, but His power to get us right.
So, our goal should be to spruce up our inner man as much as we do the outer man.
Yes, post your bomb pictures on instagram, but don’t forget that you should spend more time “making” up the inner man.
The places we dream of occupying, demand that we depart from places of ignorance and comfort- ensuring that our characters can sustain our expansion.
So, via my lips today take the wisdom that my 90+ year old client had to offer……
Don’t be “LIKE A RADISH”
Thank you for reading,
Ashley #followerofChrist
Matt. 15: 11, 17-20 (ESV) – “It is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person…….. Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled? But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person. But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile anyone.”
Matt. 23: 26-28 (NKJV) – Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
