Wine or Whine?

The best grandad jokes are the ones that need explaining; what starts as a bad joke, finishes awful. For example:

What did the grape say when it was crushed? It let out a little whine.

The joke itself is bad enough; explaining that wine comes from grapes, and that complaining grandchildren (not yours of course!) may sometimes whine – especially if someone treads on them – increases the agony.

This particular ‘joke’ has the additional dubious benefit that it has a moral. When someone crushes us we can chose how we respond: with the whine of the complaining, mistreated victim, or with the wine of joy-inducing, fruity goodness.

Yesterday I came across a blessing that starts ‘May God bless you with discomfort…’  I’ve encountered what I’ve known as ‘A Franciscan Blessing’ many times over the years…

Apparently it was written in 1985 by Benedictine Sister Ruth Fox of the Sacred Heart Monastery in Richardton, North Dakota. As Chaplain for the Catholic Students at Dickinson State College, Sister Ruth offered a prayer for a diverse gathering of graduating students that started:

May God bless you with discontent with easy answers, half-truths, superficial relationships, so that you will live from deep within your heart.

May God bless you with anger at injustice, oppression, abuse, and exploitation of people, so that you will work for justice, equality, and  peace.

May God bless you with tears to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation and war, so that you will reach out your hand to comfort  them and to change their pain to joy.

May God bless you with the foolishness to think you can make a difference in this world, so that you will do the things which others tell you cannot be done…

We usually try to avoid being crushed by discontent, anger, tears and foolishness; perhaps we pray that we shall be spared them. Sister Ruth’s blessing transforms the whine of the complaining mistreated victim into the wine of joy-inducing fruity goodness.