#Prune

The garden is beginning to look tidy for the winter. The necessary pruning is done, ready for a time of dormancy before the new growth of spring.

The vine now looks dead, but it is not. It's life is hidden for now. I trust that the fresh shoots, leaves and eventually grapes will appear during 2019 as they have every previous year.

To prune is a gardener's act of care, of cleaning up what is unproductive or getting in the way of better growth.

In the digital online calendar #AdventWord2018 I am responding to each day this Advent season, today's  is #prune. That word prune immediately took me to Jesus' enigmatic statement in John 15:1 - 5:

"I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine-grower. He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit. You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. Abide 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. I 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." John 15:1 - 5 (NRSV)

The Greek word that most English versions translate in that passage as 'prune' has a similar root and meaning to 'cleanse'. Both pruning and cleansing are acts of care by a good gardener. Sometimes it seems a harsh process, but is necessary to increase strength and produce fruit.

Image Credit: Pixabay, CCO License