pat loughery

Last night I spent a few hours with my wife and her employee at a business dinner and wine tasting. It was great fun, and I picked up a lovely little nugget to consider for a while.

The wine conniseur was describing the 4 wines she brought with her, and began to describe how grapes taste differently when they’re grown in different regions and different soil types.

It turns out that grapevines are most fruitful in growing grapes when they are in rocky soil, not in perfectly crafted soil. In perfect soil, the vine doesn’t put energy into fruit, but into roots. If a vine is in rocky soil – the rockier the better, to a certain point – the vine feels that it may not survive, and it puts all its energy into fruitbearing so that its progeny can survive. Big grapes come from difficult circumstances, not comfortable circumstances.

I’ve never heard that one before. But it certainly seems similar to what we see as followers of Jesus – our growth and effectiveness comes when we’re in challenging circumstances, not comfortably safe.