He does great things past finding out, yes, wonders without number. Job 9:10, NKJV.
Some friends periodically blessed us with a box of fruit from trees in South Florida. They are the most exquisite mangoes imaginable. First, they are huge. Even with big hands, you can’t possibly surround one with both hands with all your fingers touching. The skin is smooth and green with shades of orange and red blushes. The pit is slender taking up very little space. The pulp or fruit is butter soft and juicy with little if any fiber. And the flavor… ahhh, the flavor must be something akin to fruit from the tree of life itself. It is sweet and aromatic, with some spicy notes. Indescribably delicious, so I’ll stop trying.
Unfortunately some people can’t eat mangoes without breaking out in a rash around their mouth and on their face. Mango, poison ivy, poison oak, and poison sumac are members of the plant family Anacardiaceae. Their sap contains a chemical called urushiol, the cause of severe contact dermatitis in certain people. Another member of the same family is the lacquer tree, also known as the varnish tree or Japanese sumac, the source of urushi, lacquer made from the sap of the lacquer tree. As you might guess, lacquer can cause severe rashes and needs to be handled with care too. Cashews also belong to this interesting family.
Mangoes grow on trees that usually become rather large (up to 100 feet tall). Because of excellent root systems and the mild weather where they grow, they can also produce fruit for a very long time. Being one of the few tropical tree fruits, mangoes have been selected and cross-pollinated for centuries, so that more than 1,000 varieties now exist, primarily in frost-free areas of the world, since their flowers and fruit don’t do well when it gets cold (below 40°F). When it comes to fruit popularity worldwide, three mangoes are eaten for every banana, and 10 mangoes for every apple, making the mango the “king of fruit.”
John the revelator describes the tree of life. That we don’t understand it when is an understatement, because it grows on both sides of the river. Sounds like one tree with two trunks. The tree of life bears 12 crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. Is that 12 different types? Could any of those be anything like a mango? What marvelous growth factors are in those leaves?
Lord, creator of the most amazing mango, You are the one who gives access to the tree of life.