Brexit – We head towards our new destiny of being outside
Europe by March next year. Of course each one of us
will have our own views on Brexit, whether it is a good or
bad thing. Either way, it will be, almost certainly a
reality in less than a year’s time. The consequences
for this generation and for future generations are not yet
known.
Brexit Britain will redefine our community, our relationship
with the rest of Europe and the wider world. With
divisions within our own communities on whether we should or
should not remain within the European Union, our internal
relationships are also changed – at least for a generation
and probably beyond that time as well.
How we view our own identity, as individuals and how we are
viewed by others is inevitably changing as a result of
this. As British citizens, outside of the EU - our
status is to change. The impact on individuals
thoughts and feelings – this is hard to predict.
All of this has relevance to John’s Gospel reading today –
where Jesus defines the interweaving of the disciples’ lives
with God. He uses the chant-like description of this,
as ‘the true vine’. He tells the disciples that their
relationship with God is one of total indivisibility.
Jesus is the true vine, God is the vine grower. The
disciples abide in God and God abides in them. The
disciples then bear fruit, within the vine. All other
things which do not support this are to be pruned away and
burned.
How different then is the relationship of people with one
another? The answer is actually, our relationship with
God is interwoven with our worldly relationships. We
cannot fully separate them. How we are with one
another directly links to how we are with God. If we
try to say that we can keep these relationships separate
then we are just kidding ourselves.
It is not just about Brexit – though this will in some way
affect the lives of everyone in this country, to a greater
or lesser extent. It is about every relationship we
have, with everyone we encounter, however briefly.
This is implicit in the message which Jesus speaks of in the
Gospel. Everything which is not part of God’s fruitful
plan must be eliminated. We cannot let the negative or
harmful sprouts to flourish, or they will suck the very life
giving force away from where it is needed.
That is why it is so important to focus on God and to enter
into the relationship with him as fully and whole heartedly
as we can. To always seek to do more so in the
future. The earthy nature of the vine is a reminder to
us that we cannot separate our lives from the world – It is
not some intellectual task that we can do in isolation from
the world. We are in the world and the world is in us
– FACT! We need to realise this and only then can we
work on strengthening our relationship with God.
I know when things are out of kilter with me – I keep
falling over. It’s a way of my body and my mind
telling me that something is not right. For each one
of us there may be a different tell-tale sign. We have
to listen to our bodies, not just our minds to get feedback
on how we are doing in the world and with God.
It is so important to re-ground ourselves, to experience the
true present, God with us in the physical and the spiritual
world. If we do this, everything is in harmony.
A few years ago I went to an inspiring spirituality day, led
by Alistair McIntosh. He is a Christian writer and
thinker and has written extensively about the dynamism of
spiritual and the physical forces – but within the Christian
theological framework. It was a powerful and
emotionally awakening experience. The group began the
day by knotting together vines made from cloth. We all
linked up and wove our fabric vines around the chapel altar
where we were congregated together. It is hard to put
into words what I discovered that day, spiritually. I
think it would be helpful to say that such is the mystery of
this reality, it transcends words.
I would like to say that the spiritual journey is always an
upward and progressive one, but that would be untrue.
The reality is that we are always battling with the negative
growth, and frequently having to prune the destructive and
the wasteful, energy sapping off-shoots.
As Lao Tzu says in his epic poem the Tao The Ching – tackle
things when they are small. Keeping on top of the
pruning is best – however not always what we do! The
way to look at it though is, we may have left the pruning
too long, but if we leave it even longer, then it will be
even harder to do!
We have our faith, which is more powerful than the
philosophy of Lao Tzu – our real relationship with God and
with Jesus gives us strength beyond our own to tackle
anything
.
Brexit will be one of those challenges in our day to day
reality which we will have to face. God will be with
us and his power transcends that of worldly politics.
Our other challenges beyond Brexit – in our daily lives, as
Christians are also there to be faced.
We need to act with faith, courage and true union with God
in all our actions. Only when we are alive in the
spirit, turning away from that which is evil – will we have
the victory and peace which can only be realised with God
and through God.