I am the Real Vine and my Father is the Farmer. He cuts off every branch of me that doesn’t bear grapes. And every branch that is grape-bearing he prunes back so it will bear even more. You are already pruned back by the message I have spoken. John 15:1-3, The Message

I am the true vine, and my Father is the vine grower. He removes every branch in me that bears no fruit. Every branch that bears fruit he prunes to make it bear more fruit. You have already been cleansed by the word that I have spoken to you. John 15:1-3, NRSVue

The front yard is surrounded by a hedge, a living fence offering separation from the street and a home for small wildlife. Once a year, I take my pruners to it, thinning out maple saplings and other vines. The dead branches go next. But it’s the rest of it that’s so much more difficult: pruning off healthy branches to allow light to penetrate the top leaves, and to keep the sides as well as the top of the shrubs green.

Next week, I’ll be taking the pruners to the hedge for the first time in over two years. Skipping last year’s pruning didn’t make the hedge happier or healthier; it made the hedge scragglier and overgrown.

It’s a lot of work, this pruning, and not for the faint of heart or the overly sentimental. The results, at first, aren’t pretty. It’s only over time that pruning reveals itself as a necessary and good thing. New growth and healthier branches take time.

Lately, it feels to me like my life is in the process of being pruned – some things that no longer work for my age and stage are getting cut away. There doesn’t seem to be a particular logic in it, and it isn’t pretty or a lot of fun. I just have to trust that it will end up bearing some kind of fruit in due time.