There's a story about the great German composer, Johannes Brahms.  It tells how he used to sit down with this passage from the gospel of John every morning when he was composing.  He'd read it over and over until he found that place in his creative heart that was full and open and ready to sing.  Only then did he begin composing.  Only when he was so at peace within himself and so connected with God, only then did he take up his paper and writing instrument and commence composing.

We still live under the shadow of 9/11 and labor under the cloud of fear, waiting for whatever sort of attacks may come.  But, on this, the final day of 2001, it seems to me that I am in need of the kind grace-filled creativity shown in Johannes Brahms.

It's the kind of creativity that stems from a deep and faith-filled connection with the Word.  It's the kind of creativity that is rooted in a knowledge of the Word that leads to significant action.  It's the kind of creativity that not only remembers the past, but also seeks to see the future with God's eyes.

What I feel tempted to do is to imitate Brahms.  I want to read this gospel passage over and over and over and over in order to tap into the profound vision that God still offers us today.  How about you?

Won't you take the time to sit and read these words from the gospel of John - ten, twenty, thirty times today?  It's a gamble, wasting some time with the Word.  But, it worked for Brahms.