I wasn’t sure what to expect but I found Freshers Week lots of fun. Thousands of new students turned up and moved in and the excitement and openness to conversation was infectious. I was part of some organized activities, but the best bits were just meeting people everywhere I went.

On the first weekend of new arrivals, I’d decided to just take the bus up to one campus to be around as much as possible. I’d been thinking about some words of Jesus that week where he tells his followers to stay joined to him, in the same way that a branch needs to be connected to a vine in order for fruit to grow. So my prayer on the bus and throughout that day had been, ‘help me to be connected to your love’.

It felt as though that prayer was answered in many different ways: encountering students who were feeling anxious or finding it hard, being around to chat and help people to feel welcome, even pulling suitcases to accommodation blocks. Because I had no other agenda other than living in God’s love, it was easier than it sometimes is to respond.  I wish it was always like that.

I’ve also been paying attention to a passion fruit plant that is growing on a wall a few houses down from us. I’ve been watching it because I don’t think I’ve noticed passion fruit growing before. I asked a gardener about it and she said ‘it’s quite common to see passion fruit growing in Bath, but very rare for them to get ripe’.

For fruit to ripen, all that is needed is time and favourable weather conditions, and of course, staying connected to the main plant. It’s simple, really. It’s almost as if the most basic truths are right in front of our faces in the shape of the plants in our pots or the trees in our parks.

I’m struck that Jesus saying that we should abide or live in him, in the same way that he is connected to his father – has nothing at all to do with knowing exactly what we believe on every issue, or even attending church. It’s about knowing that our deepest desires are where God is and being open to how the changes things.

I met up with a returning student last week and she just happened to mention that this same passage is one of her favourite bits in the Bible (and she even has a bag to remind her of it). For her, it is about making her home in Jesus, not trying to look for security in anything else.

So I’ve been trying to imagine myself completely at home with Jesus as I go about my days, and also reminding myself to be like a branch- with the green sap of God’s love and life flowing through my veins. I think, for me, this is what joy feels like. But we’ll have to wait and see if any fruit manages to get ripe.