I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in them will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing.
—John 15:5
Father Richard Rohr understands Jesus’ vine and branches metaphor as an illustration of mutual indwelling: Christ in us and us in Christ.
The motivation, meaning, and inherent energy of any action comes from its ultimate source, which is the person’s foundational and core vantage point. What is their real and honest motivation? What does the seeing? Is it the cut-off branch, the egoic self, trying to work on its own (John 15:5–6)? Is it a person needing to be right or is it a person who wants to love?
A branch that has remained lovingly and consciously connected to its Source (God, Jesus, our Higher Power) offers a very different perspective. When Jesus spoke of a cut-off branch, he meant a person who can only see from the small position of me and what meets my needs. It seems to me our society is largely populated by such disconnected branches, where a commitment to the common good has become a rarity.
Seeing through a lens beyond our own self is what I call participative seeing. This is the new self that can say excitedly with Paul, “I live no longer, not I, but it is Christ now living in me” (Galatians 2:20). This primal communion immediately communicates a spaciousness, a joy, and a quiet contentment. It is not anxious, because the illusion of a gap between me and the world has already been overcome.
A mature believer knows that it is impossible not to be connected to the Source, or to be “on the vine,” as Jesus says. But most people are not consciously there yet. They are not “saved” from themselves, which is the only thing we really need to be saved from. They do not yet live out of their objective, totally given, and unearned identity, “hidden with Christ in God” (Colossians 3:3).
For most of us, our own deepest identity is still well hidden from us. Religion’s primary and irreplaceable job is to bring this foundational truth of our shared identity in God to full and grateful consciousness. This is the only true meaning of holiness.
The irony is that this holiness is actually our first nature, yet we made it so impossible that it didn’t even become our second nature that we could easily wear with dignity. This core Christ identity was made into a worthiness contest, or a moral contest, at which almost no one wins. This is something we can only fall into and receive—and nothing that we can achieve, which utterly humiliates the ego, the willful, and all overachievers.
Reference:
Adapted from Richard Rohr, Eager to Love: The Alternative Way of Francis of Assisi (Cincinnati, OH: Franciscan Media, 2014, 2024), 65–67.
Image credit and inspiration: Susan Wilkinson, Untitled (detail), 2021, acrylic paint, Unsplash. Click here to enlarge image. Just like the colors swirl together in this painting, we and God swirl in our dwelling/indwelling.
Story from Our Community:
The Daily Meditations have been balm for my soul for years. Given the current state of affairs in our country, I even more fully appreciate the calming, respectful, and supportive voices of all those involved with the work of CAC. I’m grateful for all of the wisdom, the stories, and the love shared by this community. By the knowledge of God’s Great Love, I am embracing the simplicity at the heart of Christianity, and finding the great courage to expand my circle of love— and love more deeply.
—Liz T.
