Jesus Christ The Apple Tree

The tree of life my soul hath seen
Laden with fruit and always green
The tree of life my soul hath seen
Laden with fruit and always green
The trees of nature fruitless be
Compared with Christ the applle tree

His beauty doth all things excel
By faith I know but ne'er can tell
His beauty doth all things excel
By faith I know but ne'er can tell
The glory which I now can see
In Jesus Christ the apple tree.

For happiness I long have sought
And pleasure dearly I have bought
For happiness I long have sought
And pleasure dearly I have bought
I missed of all but now I see
'Tis found in Christ the apple tree.

I'm weary with my former toil
Here I will sit and rest a while
I'm weary with my former toil
Here I will sit and rest a while
Under the shadow I will be
Of Jesus Christ the apple tree.

This fruit does make my soul to thrive
It keeps my dying faith alive
This fruit does make my soul to thrive
It keeps my dying faith alive
Which makes my soul in haste to be
With Jesus Christ the apple tree. 

The apples in the bowl are from Thanksgiving, when I made an Italian apple tart. The recipe said to peel the apples--actually, it said to pare them--but I was pressed for time and also like to leave some of that nutrition in there. And then I just thought they looked so cute!

We sang this sweet song as part of the Lessons and Carols service. It's such a fascinating metaphor, I think, and this writer has done a good bit of thinking about how it may have come to be. I did not know until reading this about the association between the Latin words for apple and evil. Fascinating: that whole idea of Eve eating an apple has a very logical explanation! (And I realize while writing this that I may well have heard that at some point, but if so, it sure didn't stick.)

Each time we rehearsed this, and when we performed it, I would get a little teary-eyed at the words of the last stanza, "This fruit does make my soul to thrive; it keeps my dying faith alive...." When I look back over my life so far and think of the various ways my faith has been kept alive when it felt close to dying, it is humbling and heartwarming.

If you've never heard the song, here's a sweet performance of it by the ever-wonderful Kings College Choir of Cambridge.