Fruit of The Spirit

i heard someone talking about the fruit of the spirit yesterday...
he could only recall a few off hand,
love and kindness,
but said he tries to live by them.
being a fan of thich nhat hahn
and how he expresses the importance of kindness
i looked up the fruit of the spirit.
turns out...
its from the bible.
you know, the holy bible.
its in Galatians 5:22
i'll be honest,
i have never read the bible.
only a piece here and there
and this was way back in high school.
i've got a bible.
but haven't opened it in years.
the language is icky.
the ideas are often dated.
but apparently...
the message is solid.
and if you can get past the language...
it seems to have some sweet stuff in it.
i read a lot of books about the connections
between buddhism and christianity (and catholicism)
mostly because it helps me to understand
buddhism better by connecting it with christianity
which are where my roots are....
so its no surprise then...
that the fruit are ideas that are strong and present
in buddhism too.
here they are...

•love
•joy
•peace
•patience
•kindness
•goodness
•faithfulness
•gentleness
•self-control

i plan to put these on a piece of paper...
attach them to my dashboard...
and try real hard to live them...
be actively conscious of them.
hope you can, too.