The Way of the Seven Fold Secret by Lilias Trotter

- SS -
Here in the last of the Parable secrets that we are·
studying, this lesson is taught us in a wonderful picture.
It is the likeness of the vine whose current of sap flows
through every branch that is knit into its stem, according
as it is written that "He that is joined unto the Lord is one·
Spirit. "'f-· Here again we see a revealing that meets the·
longing of every Sufi who is athirst inwardly-the longing
that he should be brought into the_ union with God. That
is man's highest aim. In this similitude of the Vine and.
the branches, we have the interpretation of the way in
which this union can take place even here on earth. For
as the sap fills all the little channels of the branch, mak~
ing it alive with the life of the stem to its furthest tendrils,.
so is God's purpose for our partaking of the Divine nature
by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. And this uniting
comes, not through endeavouring to produce an ecstasy
in our beings, but in receiving the promise of the Spirit
by faith. What is quieter than the channel that holds its
heart open to the sap ?
Look again at this word "joined". How does this
joining take place with regard to those who desire to be
of "one spirit" with Christ? It may be that the similitude
bears a meaning that will explain it. How does a branch
that is not a branch become a branch ? It is by grafting.
It must be severed from the plant where it grew, and the
severed surface is brought to a wounded place in the·
vine's stem, and bound there, heart to heart, and from
that wounded place in the stem the sap flows out, and:
seals the branch into union, and then it finds its way into
the channels of the graft, and soon it needs no outward
bonds to bind it there: it has become one with the v)ne,
and the power and 'sweetness of the vine flow into the·
" I Cor. 6 I7.