Dear Friends in Christ –
Today begins a new weekly blog series for the Diocese of Fort Worth: WORD. This offering in Beauty & Bravery is a spiritual refresher, an opportunity to breathe in something of God’s Word in the middle of the week. The scripture passages that will be referenced in these short meditations will be from the readings for the upcoming Sunday, preparing our hearts for the Word we’ll hear together at church on Sunday. Guest authors are welcome, so if you would like to contribute, please let me know!
Blessings,
Janet+
The Rev. Janet Waggoner
Canon to the Ordinary
WORD: On being a branch
This coming Sunday, the Gospel lesson will be John 15:1-8, the famous “I am the vine, you are the branches” passage. Jesus’ words draw us to think about how we “branches” are all nourished through the vine. Cut off from the vine, branches wither and die. Connected to the vine, they pass some of what they receive on down the line. And the result is luscious fruit.
Since most of our congregations in northern Texas aren’t very connected with the ins and outs of growing grapes, I was wondering what another metaphor might be for the delivery of nourishment through the vine to the branches . . . and I thought of airplanes!
When my son was small, he loved the airplane game. Sitting in his highchair at dinnertime, he would smile and laugh as the “airplane” spoon delivered a load of food right into his mouth. This image came to mind when I was listening to the radio on my way to work this morning, because it mirrors the way airplanes are – right now – delivering food and other aid to those who are suffering in the aftermath of the earthquakes in Nepal.
An airplane, a vine with its branches – both are conduits through which nourishment can flow. Think about where you are a branch, about what you’re passing along. What you’re passing on may not seem like much – a kind word, a few bucks – but it bears fruit, nourishing bodies and souls . . . and changing the world.
PS – You may already be be “branching out” in other ways and places today, but if you feel moved offer much-needed nourishment to those in Nepal, you can do that in a heartbeat by clicking this link – episcopalrelief.org/NepalRelief.