Staying Connected

I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing   John 15:5

It was a wonderful snowy day. You could hear that wind whistling, and the lone, spindly tree just outside the living room window was being seriously blown about. All the leaves were gone from this tree except a single tiny reddish-brown one connected near the top. It clung tenaciously as the wind whipped it about.
 
The little leaf was enduring the hardship of a mountain winter. Spring would soon arrive and the tree would bud and fill with new leaves. It looked like the little leaf would make it. It would survive and enjoy the new spring and lazy summer before autumn and another winter would come.
 
Winter storms come into all of our lives, even when it’s not winter.  If you haven’t experienced one, you surely will.  Sometimes our personal winters cause us to abandon or turn our backs on whatever, or whomever, we are connected.
 
When we suffer the pain of divorce, job loss, miscarriage, or any number of things that come our way in life’s journey, there are times when we don’t feel like hanging on. It simply seems too hard.
 
In the Bible, book of John, Jesus tells us He is the vine (tree) and we are branches. If we stay connected to the tree, we can weather any storm. That’s a hope we can hold onto, and a promise we can claim. That is good news.


©Sally I. Kennedy
The Best of Irish Thursdays

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