The Vine and the Branches




MORNING PRAISE | May 13, 2020 | The Vine and the Branches | John 15:1-8

PERSONAL REFLECTION
There’s a pervasive sense of simplicity and uncomplicatedness in today’s gospel. It can be seen in how Jesus tells his disciples that pruning is necessary for one to bear fruit. It then jumps right at you when Jesus gives the disciples two options: remain in Him so that they may bear fruit; or not remain in Him and face the certainty of withering and eventual burning into a fire.

Plain. Simple. Uncomplicated.

These days, as I continue to count the remaining days that lead to announcement day, I cannot deny that I crave that same level of plainness and simplicity; to achieve that same sense of clarity and focus in all my life’s affairs. I desire that uncomplicatedness in life; one that is free from the distractions of the many, many things that run through my head on a daily basis. Jesus makes it all sound so simple: choose one and be rewarded; choose the other and suffer.

The unfortunate reality, however, is that it’s just so hard to be black-and-white these days, especially as I try to make sense of what is happening around me and within me: as I struggle to understand what modified ECQ would mean for me and my family; as I wonder whether my plan B will hold water in a post-Covid 19 world; as I repeatedly run post-mortem analyses on actions and conversations that happened, but probably shouldn’t have.

“Remain in me as I remain in you.” Jesus seems to have made things very clear cut for me… for us.

Today’s gospel appears to invite me to stay with Him and His words, for it is through Him that I can truly be fruitful; only through hanging on to Him and rooting myself in Him that I can achieve fullness. Today’s gospel for me appears to be an invitation, a license even, to be clingy to my heart’s content – clingy to Jesus and God, our Father. This might sound like an insignificant thing and there might be nothing new here, but for me who only recently acknowledged my innate clinginess and neediness, this goes a really long way.

For in today’s gospel, Jesus presents himself as someone I can cling to in a way that washes away the possibility of a replay of my errors in clinging to others in the past. He will not suffocate when I become too much to handle or when my toxic tendencies start to manifest. He is someone I can hold on to, without having to be paranoid that my attachment might be starting to go on overdrive to the point of bordering on the inappropriate. Jesus presents himself as someone I can cling to; that I can confidently hold on to without the fear of drifting apart, because I know that He clings to me as much as I cling to Him.

And so I pray this morning and thank Jesus for these gifts: the clear message of what it takes to be fruitful, and for opening Himself up to me, so that I may cling to Him in profitable ways that I can never do with others; not even to my self-absorbed self.

Amen.


THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
“Try not to confuse attachment with love. Attachment is about fear and dependency and has more to do with love of self than love of another. Love without attachment is the purest love because it isn’t about what others can give you because you’re empty. It is about what you can give others because you’re already full.” - Yasmin Mogahed

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