Heaven in a Wildflower

To see the world in a grain of sand and heaven in a wildflower. Those are lovely sentiments from the brilliant 19th century poet William Blake–some folks may even take inspiration from them. But few of us actually are changed by such words. They simply strike our fancy for a moment, as we smile at their profundity. Then our thoughts eventually turn back to the problems and annoyances of daily life. One expects that William Blake well knew the impotency of words in manifesting change in others, and thus penned his lofty verse simply for himself–a way of honoring his personal relationship with God and celebrating the magnificence of creation.

As we’ve elevated famous artists to the rank of nobility, enshrining their works in museums, immortalizing their lives in books, and lavishing them with money and praise, we have forgotten that art is ultimately a democratic endeavor to be pursued by everyone–for it is through art (be it painting, writing, sketching, crafting, building, carving, sewing, or what have you) that we grow closer to God and begin to truly see the world as He sees it–a co-creator within His creation.

When we work diligently, patiently, and lovingly at our art/craft (whatever that may be), we slowly approach that destination which the novelist Lawrence Durrell said was the ultimate goal of all true artists: developing a personality which transcends art. This transcendent personality is the one we find realized in Jesus of Nazareth, who having achieved union with the Father thru Christ not only saw heaven in a wildflower but in every living thing, including the worst sinners among us.

It was then by the force of that personality (and not his words alone) that Jesus became a “fisher of men,” truly capable of transforming the lives of others.

Please subscribe to The Living Hour’s free Daily SBNR Motivationals by entering your email address into the “Opening the Small Gate” box in the right corner of this web page. This Progressive Christianity series is written for Unitarians, Agnostics, and all who seek a richer life

John – Gospel 15 – Christ Is The Vine

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine-grower. 2 Any unfruitful branch in me he takes away, and he cleanses every fruitful branch, that it may bear more fruit. 3 You are already clean because of the message that I have given you. 4 Remain united to me, and I will remain united to you. As a branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it remains united to the vine; no more can you, unless you remain united to me.”

5 “I am the vine, you are the branches. You that remain united to me, while I remain united to you, will bear fruit plentifully; for you can do nothing apart from me. 6 If anyone does not remain united to me, they will be thrown away, as a branch would be, and wither up. Such branches are collected and thrown into the fire, and are burnt.”

7 “If you remain united to me, and my teaching remains in your hearts, ask whatever you wish, and it shall be yours. 8 It is by your bearing fruit plentifully, and so showing yourselves my disciples, that my Father is honored. 9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you; remain in my love. 10 If you lay my commands to heart, you will remain in my love; just as I have laid the Father’s commands to heart and remain in his love. 11 I have told you all this so that my own joy may be yours, and that your joy may be complete.”

12 “This is my command: love one another, as I have loved you. 13 No one can give greater proof of love than by laying down his life for his friends. 14 And you are my friends, if you do what I command you. 15 I no longer call you ‘servants,’ because a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have given you the name of ‘friends,’ because I made known to you everything that I learned from my Father.”

16 “It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you, and I appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that should remain, so that the Father might grant you whatever you ask in my name. 17 I am giving you these commands that you may love one another.”

18 “If the world hates you, you know that it has first hated me. 19 If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own. Because you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world—that is why the world hates you.”

20 “Remember what I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have laid my message to heart, they will lay yours to heart also. 21 But they will do all this to you, because you believe in my name, for they do not know him who sent me.”

22 “If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have had no sin to answer for; but as it is, they have no excuse for their sin. 23 Those who hate me hate my Father also. 24 If I had not done among them such work as no one else ever did, they would have had no sin to answer for; but, as it is, they have both seen and hated both me and my Father.”

25 “And so is fulfilled what is said in their law: ‘They hated me without cause.’ 26 But, when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of Truth, who comes from the Father—he will bear testimony to me; 27 Yes, and you also are to bear testimony, because you have been with me from the first.”

To read the next chapter of the Book of John, please go to The Gospel of John – 16

This Online New Testament Gospel of John is excerpted from the book The Living Hour: The Lord’s Prayer for Daily Life (with New Century Gospels). Including over 200 bookmarked citations from the canonical Gospels, this Progressive Christian book appeals to the Unitarian spirit at the heart of all faiths.

Challenge your perceptions on the Gospel of Christ, Jesus’s parables, and the Kingdom of God by purchasing The Lord’s Prayer book today. Produced by LivingHour.org, a Thailand-based small press dedicated to publishing unique Learning Easy Thai Language Books, as well as works on progressive spirituality.