Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 9.10

Both man and God and the Universe produce fruit; at the proper seasons each produces it.

But if usage has especially fixed these terms to the vine and like things, this is nothing. Reason produces fruit both for all and for itself, and there are produced from it other things of the same kind as reason itself.

—Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, Book 9.10 (tr Long)

When I am worried if I am living well, I will ask myself what I have achieved, and in asking what I have achieved, I will then be tempted to consider what I have acquired for myself, how fully I control my circumstances, and whether or not I have increased in influence. I will be drawn to measuring myself only by the utility of the consequences, while neglecting the character within the action.

This would be as if I merely judged a vine by how much profit I can make from selling the grapes, or a work of art by how much praise it receives, or a friend by how much he amuses me. Fruits are more than things to be cultivated, harvested, or eaten, just as any of the goods in life are more than things to be bought, sold, or consumed.

All things bear fruit by simply expressing, fulfilling, and perfecting their own natures, and by doing so also assisting other things to express, fulfill, and perfect their own natures. The benefit lies in them authentically being themselves, in harmony with everything else.

Or as an old hippie friend of mine used to say, “Commit to love, and pass it on.”

I may want to do what is right, but then I become discouraged when I don’t see certain tangible results. I may have been honest, but I then found myself deceived. I may have been compassionate, but was only met with contempt. I may have given, but others gave nothing back. I may have struggled mightily, but no one noticed.

I’m discouraged because I’m not really recognizing the fruits of my actions; I am failing to understand what it means to achieve. The benefit for me is only in how I increase my own virtue, and the benefit I can offer others is only in how I encourage them to increase their own virtue. There is the happiness. I need not want any other reward beyond that, as long as I have done what I should do, content that I may not win riches, or fame, or gratification.

Frustrated with the obstacles of life, I often don’t see the small but powerful ways my actions can make me better, and can help others to be better. I overlook them precisely because they are humble, and because they are subtle. 

The big events of life were not the school graduation, or the lucrative job offer, or making the perfect business deal, or appearing on the front page of the newspaper. No, they were what William Wordsworth called

. . .that best portion of a good man's life, His little, nameless, unremembered, acts of kindness and of love.

Or as George MacDonald put it,

If instead of a gem, or even of a flower, we could cast the gift of a lovely thought into the heart of a friend, that would be giving, as the angels, I suppose, must give.

These are the real fruits of the good life. God produces them by passing Himself on to us. Nature produces them by passing them from one thing to the next. We produce them by passing them to one another.

Written in 8/2008