O
n Friday night, as I drove home from a wedding reception, I became deeply aware of the little light on my dashboard that was telling me my fuel level was “too low”! I had noticed this earlier but figured I’d get some diesel when I left the reception. Alas, it was later than I’d planned and the first Filling Station I came to was closed. I didn’t panic and assumed I’d find another quickly and easily. The old saying about it being ill-advised to assume (“makes and ASS out of U and ME”) seemed quite apt!!
Eventually I arrived at a Filling Station and noticed the staff were in the process of closing – a young man gathering up the bits and pieces from the fore-court and his companion inside “tilling up” for the night. I pulled in quickly and in so doing, parked at an odd angle. I thought I’d try it but the pump stopped just short of the filler cap. I gave it a go and spilt 23c worth of diesel on the ground. Needless to say, I re-adjusted my parking position and had another go!!
Today’s Gospel speaks of Jesus being the “VINE” and we being the “branches”. “Cut off from me”, he says, “you can do nothing”. We need the source. My car needed the diesel and there was only one place to go to satisfy that need – the pump. Had I chosen not to, sooner rather than later, I’d have been left on the side of the road with flashing hazard lights a small comfort as cars passed on. To stay on the road, I needed fuel. To get fuel, I needed to go to where it was on offer and to fill the tank I needed to park a while, align the pump and the filler and leit the diesel flow into the tank.
I realise this is a small story – maybe even pointless in the scale of events that happen every day – but there’s, for me, a link here. We need to re-fuel – to connect with “The Vine” for cut off from Him, we can do nothing.