Musings & Younger Perspectives:<\/em> In my six years of ministry \u2013 I have never made these statements even though my propensity for gathering (maybe even hoarding) resources would be aligned with this kind of thinking.<\/p>\n An honest reflection on the times in ministry where I felt something lacking, or disappointed or frustrated, are usually times when I have not been present to who was around me and what was before us.<\/p>\n I, like many young professionals, get caught up in other things. I spend my time on \u201cthe stuff\u201d<\/em> – stuff that makes one think I might be found fruitful, IF:<\/p>\n -I\u2019m the first one there and the last one to leave… Other professions use different terminology, but the end goal is the same: productivity<\/strong>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The difficult thing about productivity within the life of Christ however is that it is only in abiding in the Vine, the Life-Giver, that we ever produce at all. A little gem called, \u201cThe Vinedresser\u2019s Notebook\u201d, has brought the basics to my remembrance:<\/p>\n \u201cWhatever stage of life we are in, there are times when we question whether what we are doing is generative. Things just don\u2019t feel fruitful in some relationship, in a job or social group, even in spiritual practices.\u201d<\/p>\n YES.<\/p>\n During the week of Annual Conference I carried Wayne Muller\u2019s book, \u201cSabbath\u201d, around with me. I couldn\u2019t find the attention span to actually read it, much less journal about it. But, I carried it with me. It became a talisman for me \u2013 that if I just held it, I\u2019d somehow receive the benefit of its wisdom. Herein lies the problem: I can\u2019t just know – I need to pause and pray, I need to actually do it. One cannot simply acknowledge there is a vine; one has to remain in it.<\/p>\n Last month, I along with other colleagues began new appointments. This is a time to begin anew, even for those who continued in the same placement; a time of great introspection and recommitment to grow where we have been planted.<\/p>\n So, let\u2019s commit and recommit to remaining in Christ by playing, resting, reconnecting with friends and family this season. Let\u2019s focus less on a productivity based on what energy we can give and pay more attention to where Christ is already at work in, through and around us.<\/p>\n The Rev. Shalom Agtarap packs up her stuff as she prepares to begin her new appointment as associate pastor of Seattle: Blaine UMC. Musings & Younger Perspectives: To Abide in the Vine and Be Fruitful By the Rev. Shalom Agtarap \u201cIf I had just one more illustration, that sermon would have knocked it out of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":51,"featured_media":7844,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[111,6,112],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-7842","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-channels","8":"category-conversation","9":"category-ministries-with-young-people"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/IDEAS_MUSINGS_Shalom.jpg?fit=700%2C700&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2l75j-22u","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7842","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/51"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7842"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7842\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7859,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7842\/revisions\/7859"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7844"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7842"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7842"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pnwumc.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7842"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nTo Abide in the Vine and Be Fruitful<\/strong>
\nBy the Rev. Shalom Agtarap<\/em><\/p>\n\u201cIf I had just one more illustration,
\nthat sermon would have knocked it out of the park.\u201d<\/em><\/h3>\n\u201cIf I had just finished that leadership book,
\ninstead of only reading the first two chapters, we could have avoided this crisis.\u201d<\/em><\/h3>\n
\n
\n-I attend every event, in and outside the church…
\n-I take days off to model healthy ministry (but never live into them)…<\/p>\nJohn 15:4 (Common English Bible):<\/strong>
\nRemain in me, and I will remain in you. A branch can\u2019t produce fruit by itself, but must remain in the vine. Likewise, you can\u2019t produce fruit unless you remain in me. <\/em><\/h3>\n
\n
\nThis article will be featured in Channels 74, August 2014. To subscribe, e-mail channels@pnwumc.org.<\/em><\/em><\/center><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"