Day 30-March 27

John 12:22-26
Philip went and told Andrew; then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. Jesus answered them, ‘The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me, and where I am, there will my servant be also. Whoever serves me, the Father will honor.

Reflection
Jesus is telling the Greeks and his disciples about himself, about the joureny that is unfolding for him.

The image of dying in order to live is something anyone who farms or gardens can understand. Simone Weil once wrote,

"Except the seed die...It has to die in order to liberate the energy it bears within it so that with this energy new forms may be developed. So we have to die in order to liberate a tied upenergy, in order to possess an energy which is free and capable of understanding the true relationship of things."

Where do you see pent-up energy, waiting to be freed? How can the choices we make today free us for service in Christ's name?

Prayer
Go with us, this day, O God. It is hard for us to imagine hating this life, but within our imagination to see ourselves freed for service. To the extent that we guard and protect that which we love, free us from fear and help us to abandon that which separates us from a deeper, richer, fuller relationship with you. Amen.


Weil quote is from the Collection, Resources for Preaching and Worship, Year B, Ward and Wild, 2002.
Seed falling from here.