Monday, December 7, 2020
Fruit of the Vine is one of several bright spots at Barclay Press. It’s the only daily devotional I know of that’s by Friends and for Friends, and each day’s reflection on a Bible passage offers another glimpse into the unique ways in which Friends encounter Scripture.
These daily reflections in Fruit of the Vine are our collected testimonies. And each day, the hundreds of Friends who read Fruit of the Vine are joining together in open or waiting worship. —Eric Muhr
“We are reminded in this reading that there will be difficult times when we wonder whether we can stand against the wind, stay on our feet when the earth shakes, or find light for the path ahead. But we know that in and through it all, there is that still, small voice of calm.” —Max Carter, excerpted from Fruit of the Vine
“Those not having encountered Christ within can only posture an attitude of faith, and thus deserve the designation the apostle gives them: deceivers. John sought to distinguish between those who had experienced the arrival of Christ Within and those ‘deceivers’ or ‘antichrists’ (signifying enemies of Christ) who had not. In short, John was telling us that the essential defect of ‘the deceiver and the antichrist’ is profession without possession. As George Fox said, ‘And that mind may talk of God, and speak of God, but not in union with God, nor from enjoyment of God in the spirit, nor from having purchased the knowledge of him through death and sufferings; but from hear-say of him, and from custom and tradition’ (Works, VII:32).” —Patricia Dallmann, excerpted from the Illuminate study of 2 John, 3 John.
This morning might be the beginning
of the world might be the beginning
of an eon an era—this sun
that kettle humming from the stove
might be the beginning—a stone
a seed a whistle a whisper beginning
—Elizabeth Herron, from “Might Be” in Insistent Grace
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Eric Muhr
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