Have you ever heard the expression, cool as a cucumber? It refers to someone who is able to remain calm and collected in the heat of the difficulties of life. It is a scientific fact that a cucumber, lying in the sun on a hot day, is cooler on the inside than the outside, up to 10 degrees. But, the difference in temperature between the inside and the outside can only exist as long as the cucumber is attached to the vine. Once detached from the vine, it loses its ability to “keep its cool.”
 

Jesus said, “I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit, because without me you can do nothing.” You are to stay attached to Christ and his message because, as ticket stubs remind us, you’re “not good if detached.”
 

To be connected to Jesus means that you will have power from within, a strength which comes only from God and keeps you connected. To be connected to God means that you have a presence, you are not alone.
 

Some people deliberately cut themselves off from others, family or friends. Some are cut off, disconnected, by circumstances beyond control, such as death, illness, divorce, or children growing up and leaving home.
 

Years ago an elderly man, who gave me permission to tell this, would come to confession each week, and I asked him why, considering how good a person he was. He said,“I know I don’t really have to come ... but you’re the only person I have to talk to each week, you’re the only person who talks to me,” and he went on to explain how lonely his apartment complex was.
 

We need to know that there are people who care about us, that we are not alone. This is where our faith comes in, in a powerful way. Our faith tells us we are never alone no matter how isolated our situation might be. Back in 1960, Ruby Hall, a black child in first grade, had to be escorted to school by armed federal marshals. Years later in an interview, she was asked how she did it when she was yelled at, and called names. She said she prayed every day, before and after school, for those who were verbally abusive. “One thing my mother always taught me was that, when she couldn’t be with me, if ever I was afraid, I should say my prayers. Even at night, if I would wake up with a bad dream and go to her room, she would immediately ask, ‘Did you say your prayers?’ That’s where that came from and it sort of stuck with me.”
 

Her mother wanted her to know that no matter what the situation, she was never alone. She was connected with God and to be connected with God is to have power, to have an eternal presence in your life, to know that Someone cares about you. To be connected with God is to live a productive life.
Vineyard owners tell us that the strongest point on any vine is the place where the vine and the branch are joined together. If you pull on a branch that goes into a tree, it will always break at the trunk of the tree, in a tree that is the weakest place. But in the grapevine that is the strongest point.
 

Jesus says I have the strength to provide for all your needs, to hold you in difficult times. I will never let you go.
 

The closer you are to Jesus, the more connected you are to him, the more you will want to do things that are pleasing in his sight.
 

Do you remain in him and let him remain in you?