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The Vine

            “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. (John 15:5)

          There are books that discuss this extended metaphor, and if I tried to summarize them, I’d miss something integral to the idea. So, today’s verse isn’t like the first three I ams: “I am the bread of life… I am the light of the world… I am the gate… I am the good shepherd…” which could be understood as Jesus as a teacher, Today’s verse is like the last two, in which Jesus claimed to be the resurrection and the life and the way, the truth, and the life. Life comes from Him, through Him. Apart from Him, we can do nothing, including live.

          Now, I have to return to my “It’s not magic” chorus. There is no one alive who reached the point where they are without help. According to many people and cultures (including Nigerian), “It takes a village to raise a child.” Sadly, the Nigerians seem intent on slaughtering the nearly half of their village that isn’t Islam. And this proverb is correct. Children need adults who know things to teach those things to them. We all tend to have opinions about who those adults should be and what they should teach, but for the moment, I’m just talking about the reality that children don’t generally learn to add, subtract, multiply, divide, read, write, use the toilet, etc., on their own.

          This is one of the things that irritates me about those who claim that something has been proven, and therefore they “know” but they don’t “believe” because belief in their vocabulary can only exist in the absence of facts, evidence, and proof. The problem is that they are attached to their vine. They’re residence inn their village. They haven’t started from scratch and done all the research themselves. They have been told about research done by others, which they accept as being true. It doesn’t matter what subject we’re discussing. It can be Christianity, Islam, science, mathematics, philosophy, or even language. We’re all branches. If we remain in our vine, we receive whatever nutrition that vine provides. But if we are attached to a diseased, damaged, or dead vine, we may not receive enough nutrition to avoid the disease, damage, or death. The question of who or what our vine is is vital to our health and well-being. Also vital is the question what sort of connection you have with that vine. 

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