the intimate relationship with him that they are to enjoy, and (so to speak) to cultivate. Branches that decide to ‘go it alone’, to try living without the life of the vine, soon discover their mistake. They wither and die, and are good for nothing but the fire (verse 6). But branches that remain in the vine, and submit to the pruner’s knife when necessary, live and bear fruit. That is the prospect that Jesus holds out to his followers, to all of us. The urgent question, then, is this. How do we