To grow, to become, to bear more fruit so that we all can experience God’s love in fullness.
‘I am the vine; you are the branches…” Partial to Whole…(John 15:1-8).
In my growing as a branch, I have come to appreciate the value of pruning! The more I am able to see what is lacking in my response to God’s Love, the greater is my desire to bring that lack to God in prayer, seeking help in transformation by practicing gratitude and trust.
In the book of Genesis, we are told that we are made in the image and likeness of God. In the letter to the Philippians, we are instructed to imitate the humility of Jesus. In the letter to the Ephesians, we are instructed to be holy and to mature toward the fullness of holiness for which we were created, as modeled by Jesus. In the Gospel of John, we are reminded, simply, that God is Love.
Anyone who loves someone knows that love is complex. Greek philosophy attempts to clarify the complexity of love by organizing it into three categories: filial, erotic, and agape. The Christian canon, in the gospel of John, seemingly keeps it simple: God is Love. Yet to equate God with Love really just makes both God and Love, as all-consuming realities, more difficult to comprehend.
