Dead Man Walking

In M. Night Shyamalan’s 1999 thriller The Sixth Sense, tormented youngster Cole Sear (played by Haley Joel Osment) remarks that he sees dead people. The only thing is these ghosts don’t know they’re dead.

Sister Helen Prejean, one of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Medaille, wrote Dead Man Walking, which was made into the 1995 movie by the same title. It is the true story of a nun serving as spiritual counselor to a man on death row, while at the same time feeling compassion for the family of his victim. “Dead man walking,” is the traditional cry of a prison guard escorting a prisoner to his execution; in other words, he’s already dead, the state just hasn’t yet made it official.

Growing up in Harbor Creek, Pennsylvania, I was surrounded by Concord grape vineyards—we were just a few miles from Westfield, NY, grape juice capital of the world. In the early autumn we would roll down our windows and drive up Route 20 along Lake Erie enjoying the fragrance of the ripe grapes ready for harvest. It was like breathing in grape juice. Every roadside stand had displays piled high with concord grapes, which we’d eat like candy. We’d hold a grape between our fingers, press it to our lips and pop the succulent, juicy interior into our mouths, throw away the skin and then start all over with another. They were incredible.

In John 15:1-10 Jesus refers to himself as the vine and us as the branches. In this passage we are admonished to stay connected to the vine. The thing is we can become disconnected and still look beautiful... for awhile. Think of a centerpiece vase of fresh cut flowers. Depending on when they were cut they may still look vibrant and full of life, when the truth is they’re already dead; they just don’t know it (or look it). Those grapes from the roadside stand smell and taste delicious, but they’re dead already, too. They started dying the minute they lost their connection to the vine.

That’s the way it is with people. We get disconnected from the vine, but there is no immediate consequence; we still look and feel okay, so we go on our way not recognizing the call, “Dead man walking.” If the consequences were immediate and readily visible, maybe we’d heed the warning and stay connected, but most of the time we don’t realize the danger until it’s too late.

Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me (John 15:4).

How do you stay connected to the vine?