The Joy of the Seed: "Unless a seed falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone.  But if it dies, it produces many seeds."
       - Jesus, in Matthew 12:24

If this is true, then what is the joy of the seed?  How in the world can death be good news? 

I know that if I could completely die to my concern about what others think of me, something in me would more fully come to life.  And that would be good (nourishing) to everyone, including myself.  Fruit would naturally result, with no effort to produce it on my part.  Reality: in those occasional moments when I am not concerned about how I look, something good comes out of me.  I long for more of those moments ---- I think.  I say I think because I'm not sure I want to fully let go of attending to impressions I am making!
 
The joy of the seed is its knowledge that the wonderful capacity for fruitfulness is already in it. The "death" is necessary to release the life that is already in the seed.

How does this truth fit:  "All I need for fruitfulness and joy is already inside me.  Whether it comes out depends on my willingness to die to all that hinders the germination and emergence of that wonderfully nourishing fruit."

If we are honest we kind of know this is true, don't we?  Aren't we all conscious of holding onto those things that seem necessary for our life?  The idea of being taken from visibility and placed in the dark, surrendering to the softening effect of the water in the soil seems like loss of life.  That's too bad.  It's the beginning of life.

Do we realize that when we surrender to our longing for fruitfulness, to our longing that our lives be a blessing to the world, we are asking to be freed from all that hinders that?  We cannot have one without the other, just as a seed cannot produce fruit without being put into the dark, moist soil where it's protective shell can be softened enough for the life within the seed to emerge.

Much of the time it may seem to us that we need to work to get something good to be inside us.  Then we will have something that blesses us and something with which to bless the world.  Aint' so.  It's already there.  What's waiting is our longing for fruitfulness and joy to become great enough to cause us to choose to surrender everything we are tempted to hang onto to protect our lives - our jobs, our friends, our spouses, our children, our parents, our church, our longings for love and respect, our longings to be accepted and to belong, etc., etc., -- you fill in the blank. 

Perhaps you have tasted of the joy and freedom that comes from those moments of surrender when you know you are not attached to any of these things for your peace and joy, but are free to simply live out the reality of the life within you, loving the world around you with the gift of your transformed, redeemed self.  However rare those moments may be for all of us, the taste of that goodness is meant to propell us to greater faith, desire, and surrender . . . . and fruitfulness.

"Lord Jesus, help me to live today as though Your Life is already in me, since it is.  I long to love more fully without conditions, but the longer I live, the more conditions I see my love has.  I am full of my ego, my false self, that warns me against letting go and trusting your provisions. Today I am willing to let the darkness and dampness soften me. I believe.  Help thou my unbelief.  Amen"