Of Branches and Vines

We have a higher-than-usual fence in our backyard, because our house borders and is downhill from the "old neighborhood". The two yards behind us that meet in the middle of our fence each have very unruly ivy vines which intertwine with the other and creep over to our yard. The benefit for us is an attractive cascade of green foliage. If you were to ask me where one vine begins and the other ends, it would have been impossible - until last week. That's when one neighbor decided to uproot his ivy leaving the branches on our side to wither and die. Within days, the cut-off branches turned brown, dried up and revealed how deeply they had crossed over into the other vine.

It is here in my own backyard that John 15 is illustrated.

⁵"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. ⁶If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.

Although city ordinances restrict me from burning anything, the "cut off" branches are bagged up and waiting to be hauled off on Tuesday.