Today's Midweek Meditation - Wednesday, November 18, 2020

 Today's Midweek Meditation 

November 18, 2020

Read John 15:1-9

”I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower. ²He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit. ³You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. ⁴Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me. ⁵I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing. ⁶Whoever does not abide in me is thrown away like a branch and withers; such branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. ⁷If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask for whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. ⁸My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.

⁹As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love.

    Richard Rohr talks about how Jesus describes the Kingdom of Heaven as a place within us and a kingdom that is already "at hand".  It is not a place we go to, but rather a place we come from.  It's not something that will happen later, but in Richard Rohr's words, "but lighter - some more subtle quality or dimension of experience accessible to you right in the moment.  You don't die into it; you awaken into it..."

    He says that "the Kingdom of Heaven is really a metaphor for a state of consciousness.  It is a whole new way of looking at the world, a transformed awareness that literally turns this world into a different place...the hallmark of this awareness is that it sees no separation - not between God and humans, not between humans and other humans."

    And this is the message from John.  We are all One with God and with one another.  There is no separation between us; which is both equally powerful and challenging.  

    During these difficult times how can we see ourselves in one another?  How can we see God in ourselves and in others?

Holy God, we give you thanks for your message of the Kingdom of God, here and now.  Thank you for loving us.  We pray that your love is made real and manifest in our own lives as we connect (and perhaps reconnect) with others.  Help us become a whole community that shares one another's burdens and rejoices with one another's victories.

AMEN.