he vine _flows_ in, and is _taken_ in;
the divine word of the divine Master is meditated, the cud of it is
chewed daily. There's _obedience_,--perfect rhythm of action between
vine and branches. There's _prayer_, the intercourse of our spirits, His
and ours, together, the drawing from Him all we need, and the letting
Him use us in His interceding for His world. These are some of the
_betweens_. Through these comes the ripening fruit.

And the outer crowd comes eagerly for the fruit hanging over the fence
within easy reach. There's a warm sympathy with one's fellows; only the
thing's more than the words sound. The Jesus-spirit within will be felt
by those outside, something warm and gentle and helpful. There will be
things done, many things, earnestly thoughtfully done. The proper word
is service. But the thing's so much more than the word ever seems to
mean.

And there'll be yet more, a more of a surprising sort. The classical fox
called the grapes sour because he _couldn't_ reach them. There'll be
some outside sour talk because some of the crowd _won't_ reach the
fruit. It wouldn't agree with them the way they insist on living. The
Jesus-life abiding within and flowing freely out is a protest against
the opposite. The mere presence of a _Christ-abiding_ man convicts
people of the sin of their lives and their treatment of Jesus. It
convinces them that the absent Jesus is right, and so they are wrong.
So there's trouble out in the crowd just because of the ripe good fruit
hanging in plain sight and easy reach over the vineyard fence. And that
double result goes on getting more so, some coming to the vine drawn by
the fruit, some talking against fruit and vine. But the man abiding is
of good cheer. He sings. For the outcome is assured.

So every grape-vine, in garden, by roadway, or on hillside, with its
vine-stock, branches, blossom, and fruit, tells of the Father's ideal
for men, a unity of life with Himself, and with each other. And every
bunch of grapes hanging on one stem, with its many in one, tells of that
same ideal, the concord of love with the Father and with each other.

And that unity of love dominating all is irresistible to the outer
crowd, in the winsomeness of its wooing.

V

The Greatest Wooing

_A Night and a Day With Hardening Hearts: the Story of Tender
Passion and of a Terrible Tragedy_

"Now of that long pursuit
Comes on at hand the bruit;
That Voice is ro