Lent
(a post from Mary Hudson)
Mary Hudson
This week I woke in the middle of the night thinking of the verse in the Bible about the vine and the branches.
It came out of the blue like I was dreaming of it, and I couldn’t stop thinking about it. I tossed and turned and finally got up around 4:30 a.m. for coffee, and to look up this verse:
“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing....abide in My love ....if you keep My commandments you will abide in My love. These things I’ve spoken to you so that My joy may be in you and that your joy may be made full.” - John 15
For some reason, It felt like it was the first time I’d read it.
Maybe it’s the barn church question asking, but good questions came to mind immediately.
First, I honestly asked myself:
Do I try to live apart from Him?
Am I abiding in His love?
If I’m a branch on this big vine, then nothing is really ever about me, it’s all about Him.
Do I make things about me, take things personally?
Second, His commandments— what commandments? I looked up the 10 commandments but came back to Jesus’ reply when asked about the greatest commandment — Love God, love others.
Abide in His love... and love others the best you can.
Don’t know things. Be ok with not knowing.
I give up trying so hard to know.
I give up trying to love/forgive difficult people on my own. I need Him.
Third, the rest of the passage:
“So that My joy will be in you and your joy may be full”
I gravitate to, feel comfortable with, the sorrow, the pain, and the heaviness of life. I’ve learned through the years that it is a choice to live a joyful life, regardless of circumstances.
The older I get, the more I know this to be true. I keep learning the same lesson, again and again— where I place my attention is key.
For me, I turn to God by taking breaks during the day to stop, be still, and breathe.
In these moments I feel more aware of the One who created everything and breathed life into us all.
I instantly feel an expansion/space, that I didn’t have before.
It feels like I’m being guided, with much gentleness, towards shifting my awareness, away from the little branch of me and on to Vine, the source of all the nourishment I need.
(Post by Mary Hudson)