Today we spent most of the day in the vineyard wrapping grapes and enjoying sunshine. For the uninitiated, wrapping grapes has nothing to do with paper and bows; it has to do with putting the trimmed vines up onto the supporting trellis wires and twisting them round and round so they'll stay put all summer long. Then you complete the task with a tie that holds them fast as they begin this year of growth. Thus begins a new year in the vineyard. The old growth is gone, sitting in piles waiting to be burned. The new growth has yet to begin, but the vines are softening more and more each day and now are flexible enough to be "trained" back onto the wires.
How fitting that we do this work on the day before Easter. Lent has taken care of "trimming" us once again. Cutting off our "old habits", making us consider again what new fruit we could be bearing. Then along comes Good Friday and we observe our Lord's sacrifice. He was stretched upon the tree so we would never have to be. But we still need "training" and something much bigger than our own selves upon which to depend. So we are refastened, and wrapped up in our risen Lord. Grafted into that message of Easter... "as the branch is to the vine... I am His and He is Mine". Blessed Easter everyone! He is Risen Indeed!
1 comment:
What a great analogy!
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