Friends,
What have you been noticing around home these past weeks? During this pandemic when many of us are spending far more time at home as we self-isolate what are you seeing with fresh eyes? Perhaps its birds at the feeder. Perhaps you have a deeper appreciation for growing and living things outdoors. While spotted windows and cob webs may catch our attention, consider the sights that cause you to pause and reflect. One of our neighbours has been pruning fruit trees over the past weeks. I’ve noticed the gentle tending of branches, crucial spring work to promote a bountiful crop of fruit.
In John 15 we read “I am the vine, and my Father in the vine grower. He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit. Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me.” (John 15: 1-2,4-5)
What spiritual practices enable you to abide in God?. What practices deepen your awareness to God’s loving presence, God’s yearnings, God’s invitation? The Quaker tradition values silence. Indeed, worship often includes 1 hour of communal silence. Does music draw you into the presence of God? A walk in nature? Deep breathing? Journalling?
As we journey deeply into this unknown season and dwell in the liminal space between an ending and a new beginning, may we strive to abide in God. May God nourish our spirits. May God reveal to us that which needs pruning. May God’s Spirit enliven us with new growth as God continues to shape and form us as the people of God.
Let us pray:
Lord of the
one true
Vine,
in you we
live and move
and have our being.
We are your branches
spindly and slight and fragile.
Prune us,
though gently.
We want to bear more
of your fruit. Amen
(adapted by Anne Osdieck)