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| jj's trellis |
Peter
Scazzero from his book, Emotionally Healthy
Spirituality (EHS) while writing about a ‘Rule of Life’: “Please don’t be
intimidated by the word rule. The
word comes from the Greek for ‘trellis.’ A trellis is tool that enables a
grapevine to get off the ground and grow upward, becoming more fruitful and
productive.”
Under
the direction of our interim Pastor Mike Harbert, La Crescenta Presbyterian
Church trekked through EHS where we learned
that a Rule of Life acts as a trellis helping us to be more intentional and
live in Christ and to be more fruitful. Our trellis is a structure that takes
into consideration our unique set of gifts and spiritual practices and helps us
to focus on God in all we do.
There
were eight sessions where we first met as a large group divided into table
groups for shared prayer, periods of silence, viewing video materials, and
continuing through work sessions. Upon completion of the series many table
groups opted to continue for two or three weeks for a deeper look into the
material. Our table opted to delve into creating our own ‘Rule of Life’ by
sharing our experiences and plans for our own Rule.
Craig,
a co-leader of our table-group of six men, brought a package of materials he’d
gleaned from his personal study and research on the topic, one for each of us.
Between what Craig brought us and the information from EHS we had and have plenty
of tools and materials to construct and maintain our own trellis.
For
as long as I can remember, I’ve been a visual person relying on circuit
diagrams, stick maps of microwave systems, sketches of basketball plays,
timelines, and stuff like that. For my work to build a trellis I went to
PowerPoint, thus the diagram shown above. Over the last few years I’ve grown
into a person who has increasingly relied on writing to grapple with subjects
and my thoughts about them, thus this post.
If
you look at my sketch you might notice there are stakes and cross members that
are blank. Mine is a work in progress and likely will be for the foreseeable
future. I’ve set my stakes in the soil where the seeds of my grapevine will be
planted, or roses, if you prefer. I’ve enriched the soil with a phrase I cling
to, “His grace is enough because His sacrifice is complete.” Without grace I
have no hope in having a healthy vine or a sound trellis. I am using the stakes
to show the various Spiritual Disciplines upon which I will hang my cross
members and I have noted in blue the
activities I hope to engage in under those disciplines. The cross members I am
putting up are the more detailed activities I plan to pursue and that
incorporate the basic elements of a Rule.
Build
a trellis for yourself.
As
noted above, my trellis is a work in progress. I will add stakes and cross
members as needed and may, at times, remove some as the focus of my life
changes through the seasons. I will be tending my trellis and the vines that
grow on it. I’ll need to shore up the connections between the stakes and cross
members and make sure my stakes are well grounded and not coming loose. I will aerate
the soil, add nutrients, and weed out the harmful plants that crop up so that
the vines produce their best fruits and blooms. Ongoing maintenance of the
trellis and its dependent vines is critical for my effectiveness and the peace
of knowing I make a difference.
I
am the oldest member of our table-group and feeling an increasing urgency to
finish well the race in front of me -> to have a trellis full of grapes or
lovely blooms of roses. As happens in vineyards, we are not always the people
who reap the fruits, press the grapes into juice, or age the wine. We are not
the only ones who walk among the trellises and enjoy the roses and still others
might pick them to display and share. I am content with that.
This
urgency of mine to finish well, assuming I can follow through (this is where
grace is required for me), is the impetus to build and maintain a trellis, my Rule of
Life, and to tend the vines growing on them.
Mind
and maintain your trellis.
I
believe we all have a Rule of Life, intentional and well-built or not. If not,
then it is likely a heap of stakes and cross members with vines choked out with
weeds and laying in rot on the ground.
Therefore,
I urge you to take stock, build a trellis, plant some vines, and mind the whole
thing. I believe you will be healthier and happier for it.
In
His grip,
jerry
Author’s
Note: Trellises (or might that be trellisi?) come in various shapes and sizes.
The photo below is of Ashley’s Trellis, my daughter. She recently completed it
and I have every hope of seeing it festooned with sweet peas, some I believe that
are descendants from sweet peas at Bass Lake that my Grandma Matt kept. Her
trellis is well designed and built with a vision for beauty and bounty and is a
reflection of her own Rule of Life. I love it.
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| Ashley's Trellis |
