Sometimes slower gets you there sooner and better.

Like slow food, grace must be savored.

Life moves too quickly at best.

The Long, Lingering, Meandering Way

We meander and gather our thoughts.

We stop here and there to taste and breathe and to be aware.

But a nagging voice within us whispers that we are wasting time.

“Quit lollygagging!”

“Get on with it!”

If we are wise, we recognize that voice as the ghost of something we once lived. It is the residual sound of fury that drove us past life’s greatest blessings toward something lesser appearing greater.

We have learned to move farther by moving slower.

We meander and realize that the narrow way is the straightest way.

When given a choice between two ways, often the best choice is the long way around.

One is efficient. And the other, an adventure, 

One gets the job done; the other is a journey.

One gives you a cup of coffee, the other, an experience.

I am not saying to labor over incidentals, but do not neglect the extraordinary.

Do not discount the struggle.

Do not ignore the sights, the aromas, or the sounds of the obscure,

Do not miss life as a cost of living.

Do not walk blindly through this world.

Take the long way to the end and the beginning of time.

Doctor Who was on a mission and would not be deterred by difficulty.

The difficulty is often necessary. It is also, often, a blessing in disguise.

Meander with meaning and direction, but know when to hasten and know when to take it slowly.

Slow Grace and True Vine

” I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.” – John 15:1

Life flows through the roots and the vine to the branches and all that emerges when the  season of blooming and fruit-bearing comes.

Jesus emphasizes the necessary connection between the vine and the branches if life is to grow, flourish, and bring forth new life.

God, the Father oversees the garden and tends it. God dresses the vines, prunes, them, and cares for their health and nurture.

But the life flows through Jesus himself to the branches.

As members of Christ, it is expected that we will receive life and give life. We are to bear fruit just like the grape vine does. It is natural to od so.

It is also something of a mystery. We do not see the internal or microscopic processes that make this happen. We do not see the plants metabolizing food. We do not see hat happens with the absorption of sunlight or photosynthesis.

But we see the results and we see one other thing.

Branches that live and produce fruit stay connected.

They abide.

In a very real sense, that is something we can decide to do, commit to, and daily renew our devotion toward. It is also all we can do the channel and experience the life that Jesus Christ gives.

We can abide and we must abide.

Like many spiritual disciplines, the secret of abiding is something we develop by doing it more than reading about it and being told how to do it,

We rest in Christ, soak up the rays of his sunshine, learn to delight in his presence, his words, and his love. We slowly and gently learn to trust, and we carefully listen for him to speak.

We learn to be more than to do.

We learn to abide. Over time, it makes more and more sense. But in the beginning, we ask for the grace of it and we trust God to give it.

That act of trusting and not worrying about whether we are doing it right is, in itself, a form of abiding.

Take Your Time to Reflect