On Saturday we visited Shawsgate, a local vineyard. Les, the owner, explained carefully the process of growing and training vines. We walked around the vineyard… saw grapes growing… learnt about the process of producing wine from grapes… tasted seven of their wines… enjoyed a lunch provided by Les and his team.
Beth Moore, in ‘Made to Flourish’, describes God the Gardener, Jesus the vine, our fruitful lives…
Soil: Les described the Suffolk soil that’s good for growing grapes… Beth describes Humus: ‘ …complex variable material resulting from partial decomposition of plant or animal matter…’
‘Tossed right alongside the teeming life in your soil, death resides – ready, humble, and willing to enrich all that lives. All sorts of deaths become humus in the ground of the human experience. This may mean the death of some dreams. The death of some hopes. The death of plans. The death of certain relationships.’
Outside: Les showed us his vineyard – open to the elements… Beth describes ‘Hypaethral: having a roofless central space.’
‘Out there, we discover that we are all uninsulated and vulnerable. Out there, floodwaters rise and winds beat relentlessly against us… Out there we discover treasures that are hidden in a field rather than in a safe deposit box. Out there we see crosses being dragged through the dirt instead of hanging in sanctuaries…’
Support: Les described and showed us the strong wires supporting the vines; Beth describes Trellis: ‘a frame of latticework used as a… support for climbing plants.’
‘Without a trellis the vine would fold in on itself, remaining stuck at ground level. Without a trellis, the branches would never reach their heads up to the sun.
And the trellis of the cross trains us in the way of forgiveness… It lifts our heads from the dirt and sludge and raises our faces to the Son.’
Musing… My life… roots growing in the rich humus of life and death… ‘hypaethral’ – unprotected against storms and drought… its supportive trellis – made from repeated crosses.
malcolmsmusings.org 