An Invitation to Abide

by Trisha Mammen

“Our annual theme of Abide reflects our desire to bear fruit, but the order of operations is essential. If we are serious about bearing much fruit, we have to avoid the trap of striving in our own strength and instead make a commitment to simply abide.”

During this time of year as we head toward our fall break, I’m always grateful for the intentional rhythms of rest that our school practices. It’s not just a good way to help students and teachers avoid burnout—it actually aligns with a spiritual posture that reminds us to guard against striving and straining into the margins. It’s a framework that disrupts the tendency to plow ahead and it invites us to rightly order what we should love most: God and others.

Breaks can get complicated because they require planning and creativity in figuring out how to fill a week with the kids out of school. But rather than seeing it as an inconvenience to solve, I hope you’ll consider it an invitation to savor.

Donum Dei’s commitment to helping families flourish includes deeply valuing the gift of time, which is something none of us will one day complain about having had too much. Breaking our own routines, stepping away from the office, or putting off real and looming deadlines in order to be with our children costs us something, to be sure. But these breaks in our school year are like family sabbaths—a sacred time to acknowledge that God desires for us to hold space, slow down, and cherish what He’s given us. They’re also a reminder that we are built for dependence.

Perhaps you’ve heard your students reciting our verse for the year: “I am the vine and you are the branches. If you remain [abide] in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5 NIV). Our annual theme of Abide reflects our desire to bear fruit, but the order of operations is essential. If we are serious about bearing much fruit, we have to avoid the trap of striving in our own strength and instead make a commitment to simply abide.

Andrew Murray’s classic devotional book, The True Vine, takes a deep dive into this passage in John in order to bring the words of Jesus to life. What does it mean to be a branch abiding in the vine? How do we bear true and lasting fruit? Murray writes, “Have you ever noticed the difference in the Christian life between work and fruit? A machine can do work; only life can bear fruit… Work implies effort and labor; the essential idea of fruit is that it is the silent, natural, restful produce of our inner life.” A lack of fruit in our lives probably doesn’t correlate with a lack of effort-- it might actually be a symptom of just the opposite.

Our proximity to some of the world’s most celebrated vineyards gives us the unique privilege of understanding Jesus’ words in ways that we can see, touch, and even taste. I shared during Parent Orientation about our staff spending a day at the Donum Estate Winery in Sonoma right before school started. It’s a fun connection to share Donum in our names and to both appreciate the Latin meaning of the word, which is gift. They see the land and the fruit it bears as a gift they are cultivating. In so many ways our work is similar.

As we walked through the grounds and took in the beauty all around us, I found myself thinking like a true city-dweller and imagining what it would be like to enjoy such a view every day. No detail was out of place; it was pure perfection that included world-class art sculptures dotting the landscape and evidence of flourishing in every direction. In that moment, I felt as if the Lord quietly whispered, “This is how I see Donum Dei—a beautiful vineyard that I am tending with joy and delight.”

That vision of Donum Dei as a lush, vibrant vineyard tended by a Good Gardner has left a deep imprint on me. I shared this with our older students recently and invited them to imagine God moving through our campus, cultivating and tending their young hearts and minds, and joyfully rejoicing over the fruit He sees each of them bearing as they abide in Jesus. We can know how God feels about His vineyard in Isaiah 27:2 where He says, “A vineyard of red wine! I, the Lord, keep it, I water it every moment; lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day” (NKJV). If God sees Donum Dei as his very own vineyard, then we can trust that we are being lovingly nurtured and protected.

I know God’s heart is the same for our families and He longs for our homes to be fruit-bearing branches. What could that look like for your family to practice abiding in the Vine together? Are there habits of independence and striving that need to be broken? Could new rhythms of wonder and rest begin to take root?

Getting the most out of our breaks does not require booking trips or creating packed agendas to fill the days. If you long to see fruit, consider doing less. Invite the Gardener to come and show you what it means to truly abide in the Vine. Once we connect (or reconnect) with Him, then we’re able to abide with one another as an act of sacred fellowship. I’d venture to guess that if God walked through the vineyard of our homes, He’d invite most of us to slow down. I’m nearly certain He’d disconnect our devices and pull a special book off the shelf for a fun family read. Maybe during this upcoming break, He’d take space in the evenings usually occupied by homework and replace it with a board game or the joy of creating a special homemade dinner together instead.

Establishing a sacred rhythm of resting and abiding isn’t just an important reflection of what we value in classical education. It’s what we value as followers of Jesus. Rest well, Donum Dei!

---

Mrs. Trisha Mammen partners with Donum Dei Classical Academy as our Principal. After working in television news for over a decade, she obtained a master’s degree in professional writing at The University of Southern California, where she taught in their freshman writing program for a number of years. She couldn’t have realized it at the time, but that season was instrumental in nudging her toward classical education and, specifically, teaching and leading at Donum Dei.