As restlessness crept upon me and overtook me, I looked for something to read.... and nothing caught my attention. So I picked up my Macrina Wiederkehr book, Abide: Keeping Vigil with the Word of God, to see where I had left off in my devotional reading.
As soon as I opened to my bookmark and read the chapter title, "Staying Connected to the Vine", I started to feel some peace. The Scripture for this section is John 15:1-8. The danger in such a familiar passage is to read it without thinking, so I forced myself to read it slowly. Then, I read the words of Macrina Wiederkehr. This is what I needed for my soul to rest. I needed to abide.
Some of the things that stood out to me from the reading:
"Jesus often used symbols from the world of nature as teaching tools. He encouraged his followers to look at the common things around them: bread, water, salt, light, fig trees, birds, sheep, rocks, seed, wildflowers, mountains, vines, and branches. They were to learn lessons from these natural gifts by listening to their wordless sermons." (58)
Oh how I enjoy learning from nature's wordless sermons! They abound! Sometimes I seek them out. At other times they seem to simply show themselves.
Macrina writes: "Perhaps you too have discovered a beautiful truth in these "nature teachings" of Jesus. In the ordinary miracles of nature there is a thin veil that separates us from the face of God, or we might say, a cloud that obscures us from the divine mystery. Jesus often gives us clues, trying to lead us closer to our sacred Source. He wants to help us break through the veil that separates us from our heart's deepest longing, which, of course, is union with the divine. The Christian Celtic peoples spoke of these elusive connections with God as the thin places." (58)
There is so much packed in those lines. What clues is Jesus putting in front of me, in front of you, to help lead us closer to the Source? Are we recognizing those clues? What teachings from nature have been most significant to you? Are we breaking through that veil?
In reading the passage about pruning, one cannot help but reflect upon what might need to be pruned in one's life. As I head into another Academy session, I am not so sure that I desire "pruning" to be my word for the week. Yet, if pruning is what is needed at this time in my life in order for me to bear more fruitful fruit and to be rid of needless dead wood or baggage, then I am open for the procedure.
Macrina writes: "It is a grace to be able to recognize how the branches of our lives need to be trimmed. The trimming is generally for our good and for the good of the faith community of which we are a part. The pruning will assist us in our journey to the "deepening places." It is a work of transformation that will enable us to discover the incredible beauty of the intimate bond we have with Christ." (59)
The last paragraph of the devotional opens and closes with the following sentences that to me reveal that the effort of living out our faith is reciprocal between community and the individual: "Our efforts to stay connected to Christ will help us to remain spiritually linked to one another." "The more we can learn from each other and support one another's respective journeys, the greater will be our intimacy with the One to whom we all belong." (61)
Macrina closes with this prayer:
Jesus, Vine of God,
Just as you have proclaimed to be the vine, I proclaim that I am one of your branches. To abide in you, to remain rooted and connected to you, is my soul's dream. My heart desires you. O Vine of God, protect and cherish all your branches. Prune me carefully so that you may never cut away more than I can bear. May your pruning be only to awaken the sleeping life in me! May all that is weary and bored be snipped away so that my very best self can arise! Prune away the dead wood from my life. Awaken me to my full potential. Amen. (62)
Maybe there is something here that speaks to you where you are on your journey.
Blessings on your journey!
~Debra
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| A shell on the beach at Cape San Blas, May 2011. One of those nature teaching moments for me as I stopped walking to see more closely the work of the Creator's hands at my feet. The sparkling sand, the shell..... it drew me to itself. |
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