Original Drawing
The original drawing for this mandala generated a lot of friendly laughter in our small group. In practice, the worse people draw, the livelier the discussions. The drawing is based on Jesus’ I AM statement, “I am the True Vine,” found in John 15:1-5. Drawing skills aside, the creator of this mandala had great insights into this passage of Scripture.
You’d be surprised by how often Jesus uses the words ‘abide in’ throughout John 15 (I’ll give you a hint: the number is greater than five).
Using these two words, Jesus calls us to:
- Stick with Him
- Make our home with Him
- Continue with Him
The images above represent a Day 3 mandala for this particular I AM Statement. Again, I’ve given the original drawing a digital makeover and added color to produce the topmost mandala.
A large vine is coming down from heaven. The arm holding the vine belongs to the Father—the vinedresser. The branches coming off this vine bear large, beautiful fruit.
Below the vine coming down from heaven stands a man, leaning forward to harvest fruit from a different vine. This second vine was planted in the world and abided in the world. Its leaves are brown; fruit is virtually nonexistent. This calls to mind Jesus’ words: “apart from me, you can do nothing.”
The man stands looking at the small, hard, brown, underdeveloped fruit of the second vine and weeps.