Deadwood

I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman. Every branch in me that bears not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. - John 15:1-2

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The half-mile narrow trail around Lake George in the high Sierra to our favorite fishing hole is beautiful but treacherous. Laden down with fishing gear and haversacks, my husband and I walked carefully beside flaming red fireweed and gold California poppies, digging our heels into the crumbly shale to keep from sliding down the bank.

"Hold on to a branch to steady yourself as you come down!" John called up as he waited for me at the water's edge. Stepping down from a large rock, I grabbed for a branch and was gingerly groping for a foothold when I slipped. Suddenly, I was falling, and with an ominous snap the branch I was holding on to broke. I skidded down the rocky bank and would have plummeted into the lake had John not been there to catch me.

"Are you hurt, honey?"

Yes, I was hurt.

I limped painfully back to our van for the bumpy ride to the local hospital. X-rays showed that I had cracked my tailbone, not seriously, but enough to cause discomfort for several weeks.

"For heaven's sake, lovey," John said, "you should have known better than to hold on to deadwood."

Unable to fish with John for the remainder of our vacation, I had lots of time to think about what he had said. I discovered that I had held on to deadwood not only by the lake, but in the rest of my life,too. The "if only I had" of regrets and guilt. Resentments. A grudge held on to for years and years. "Lord," I prayed, "help me to let go of the deadwood in my heart."

Now I've learned to reach for living branches that will not let me down. On the lakeside trail, they're branches growing green. In my heart, they're faith and forgiveness.

Fay Angus

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He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.
- 1 John 5:12



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