Hello friends,
This is Mark Gladman,
Also known as Brother Frederick James,
Your friendly neighbourhood monk in docks,
Welcoming you to another day reflecting on the statement I am the vine,
The true vine.
Today as we begin,
I invite you to breathe in deeply and out,
To let your body relax as you become aware of God's presence around you and within you.
And as you enter into the stillness,
Hear the words of Jesus,
In John 15 verse 5 saying,
I am the vine,
You are the branches.
Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit because apart from me,
You can do nothing.
Once again,
I invite you to imagine yourself standing in a vineyard early in the morning,
That cool air gently moving,
Rustling the leaves of the vines,
The scent of earth and dew carried on the wind.
All the rows of vines are there before you,
Branches woven together,
Heavy with fruit.
You reach out and you touch one of the branches.
It's strong,
Yet it's also flexible and it's deeply connected to the vine.
You notice how the life of the vine flows through every branch,
Feeding and sustaining it.
Now imagine yourself as one of the branches and as you do,
Feel the steady flow of life,
Of grace,
Of peace.
Feel that flow moving through you.
You know that without the vine,
You would wither,
But connected,
You flourish.
And remember that the fruit comes,
Not because you're straining to produce it,
But because of the attachment you have to the vine.
As that life,
That grace,
That love and peace flow through you,
The fruit just comes as a result of that flow,
Because you're drawing everything that you need from the vine for the fruit to just emerge as it comes.
So often,
I know for me,
We try to produce fruit by our own strength.
We relearn our own wisdom,
Our own effort,
Our own energy.
We strive to be loving.
We try to be patient.
We feel compelled to be kind.
We push ourselves to be more.
We push ourselves to do more.
But today,
Hear the voice of Jesus inviting you to stop striving,
To stop pushing and instead,
Just to abide,
To remain,
To know you are connected and to trust the flow of his life within you and through you.
In vineyards,
The branches don't force the fruit to grow.
The fruit comes naturally just by the branch staying connected to the vine,
Receiving water and nutrients and care,
Both through the vine and from the vine grower who tends to the vine.
And friend,
The same is true for us.
Our call is not to manufacture love,
Joy,
Peace,
Patience,
Kindness,
Goodness,
Gentleness,
Self-control.
Not from our own strength anyway.
We're called simply to abide,
To remain,
To stay connected to Jesus and allow his life to flow through us and produce the fruit.
I wonder,
Are there places in your life at the moment you feel that you're striving and you need to let go?
Are there places in your life where you've been trying to force growth instead of resting in God's presence and trusting God's movement through you?
Are there ways that you've been relying on your own energy rather than drawing from the source,
The vine?
As we have in previous days,
I invite you to take a deep breath in and out.
And as you inhale,
Imagine the life of the vine flowing into you.
Jesus' love,
Jesus' peace,
Jesus' strength.
And again,
As you exhale,
Release anything that keeps you from trusting,
Any anxiety,
Any need to control,
And any fear of not being enough.
Let's just do that as we breathe deeply together.
In and out.
In that life,
Peace,
Love and strength.
Out are the things that hold you back,
The fear of not being enough.
And once more,
In.
Jesus,
May we draw our strength from you.
Let our life reflect the fruit of abiding in you.
Help us to trust,
To remain and to rest in your presence.
And may grace,
Peace and love go with us every step of the way,
Today and always.
Amen.
As we approach the end of Lent,
My friend,
I pray that you can feel yourself being filled,
That you are knowing again that you are connected,
That you are seeing how beautiful you are as you maintain that connection,
Abide,
Trust,
And bear fruit that will last.
Until tomorrow,
May peace be with you.
