Remain

Tonight’s rehearsal was challenging. The singing style of the crooners is different for me, and it involves holding some long notes. I usually sing short notes–that’s my style, it’s the way I phrase things. It’s going to take lots and lots of practice for me to get this right, but I feel more hopeful after tonight. I’ll be listening over and over to these tunes for the next 3 weeks.

Stopped by the Give Me Love ballroom on the way home and Clayton and Juan were still in there working. There’s more paint on the walls. What Levi did to the floor in the wine-tasting area, is just so perfectly artistic, and so completely Levi. It’s classic Copper Fox.

Here’s today’s verse, John 15:4 “Remain in me and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.”

Ok, from the top: I’m the vine, my dad’s the gardener. He cuts, you’re clean because of what I told you…

Now comes your first participation. It’s the first thing you have to do. Up until this verse, everything is being taken care of by someone else. The vine supplies, the gardener trims, and you’re already clean without anything you did or could have done, so here’s your first job. Remain. Dwell. Don’t Move. Stay Put. By comparison to what the other parties have already accomplished in 3 verses, this would seem like a trivial assignment, but for recollection of my own experiences as I attempt to fulfill this simple instruction. 

There’s so much distraction and invitation to wander. Try another vine. Go it on your own. See if you can find your own nourishments. Life throws it all at you, trying to knock you off balance, succeeding more often that we want to admit. You never meant to unplug, you just looked up after a while and realized you were plugged into a different vine, relying on a different source than the true one. 

I remember my friend Dwayne would often say to me “Stay the course, brother!”

That’s what rings in my mind right now as I ponder the first instruction, the first action engagement in this chapter. “Stay with me, and I’ll stay with you. Without me, you’ll be fruitless.” 

Why is it so important to remain? You can’t be fruitful otherwise.