Of Webs and Vines

One of my favorite images from scripture is that of the Vine and the Branches. It’s an image that helps me understand three things: that Jesus is the source of life, that we are all connected to each other through Him, and that we all participate in the very life of God.

Coming from the world of business and management, Margaret Wheatley touches into this image when she writes about leadership: Many writers have offered new images of effective leaders… gardeners, midwives, stewards, servants, missionaries, facilitators, conveners. Although each takes a slightly different approach, they all name a new posture for leaders, a new stance that relies on relationships with their networks of employees, stakeholders and communities. No one can hope to lead any organization by standing outside or ignoring the web of relationships through which all work is accomplished…

P 165, Leadership and the New Science

Ever so slowly I’m coming to understand the deeper meaning of this scriptural image and of Wheatley’s words. Nothing I or anyone does is done in isolation. Even if I am not aware of it, the most innocuous of my words and actions affect the lives of others; especially those to whom I am most closely connected on the web or the vine. I am coming to see that my suffering is not my own suffering, and my joys are not mine alone. My life affects and belongs to others, and theirs to me. Both images; the web and the vine, are invitations to remember this, to actively share my life with others, and to allow others to share their lives with me.

If you were to ask the four men with whom I share Oblate community how I actually live what I’ve written above, I hope they would choose charity over the naked truth. Like most, my lived reality all to often falls short of the ideal. But in the end life is not so much about getting it perfect… it’s about staying in the relationships we’ve been given by God, messy and broken as they can be, because this is the real place of participation in the life of God.

Fr Ken

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 22nd, 2010 at 7:47 pm and is filed under Uncategorized.
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