from the vineyard

"Now let me sing to my Well-beloved
A song of my Beloved
regarding His vineyard."
Isaiah 5:1

This whole passage has deeper meaning and imagery for me now, having just visited a vineyard. We visited Benziger Winery in Sonoma Valley yesterday afternoon. We had the most perfect picnic lunch of wine, three kinds of cheese, Tapenade (delicious olive spread), fruit and dark chocolate. Our tour guide showed taught us about the biodynamic process of growing grapes in this region of California. It's this intricate process that's designed to maximize self-sustainability and holistic development.

I loved Benziger Winery because of this organic, biodynamic emphasis. There was such harmony and rhythm in harnessing the natural processes of the ecosystem--between fertilizing with natural compost, using good insects to regulate the harmful ones, even maximizing or minimizing the amount of sunlight depending on what type of grape you want to produce. The carefully-planned, well-thought out meticulousness of it struck me. There was such extreme care and order and precision given to the development and maintenance of this biodynamic process, simply to unleash the power and beauty of nature to produce fruit.

I loved having the simplicity and complexity of the winemaking process in my mind as I read this. It made me think of how carefully and intentionally God shapes and arranges circumstances to work through His people, to bless His people and to romance them into a relationship with Him. He says "Now let me sing to my Well-beloved; A song of my Beloved regarding His vineyard" in Isaiah 5:1. God gives such intentional care and love into this process, from clearing the stones, to planting the choicest vine, to building a tower, expecting it to bring forth "good grapes."

There is such agony and frustration when He says "What more could have been done to My vineyard That I have not done in it?" in verse 4. And out of frustration, the prophecy is made to destroy the vineyard, to burn it down, to trample it, to lay it to waste. I tried to imagine what that would have looked like at the gorgeous winery/vineyard we visited yesterday. The sunlight and blue skies were absolutely perfect and the vineyard looked so pristine and peaceful. To contemplate what its was destruction would look like was extremely unsettling to me.

Because of Israel's misuse of the vineyard--the passage warns repeatedly against drunkenness and intoxication--God threatens destruction. I think of course he's referring to actual drunkenness. But I think the greater reality is that there is a drunkenness that comes with squandering and misusing God's purposes, plans and gifts for our lives. A vineyard represents order and growth and abundance and enjoyment. Life. And when humanity comes along and abuses this order and grace--either hindering its growth or by overindulging in the abundance, we miss a very real, tangible opportunity to engage with the Father and to enjoy Him as He intended.

We lose the Garden all over again.

This whole passage actually makes me contemplate the things in my life that I have been given stewardship and responsibility over: my relationships, my gifts, my experiences, my choices--and wondering if I am giving them same order, love and intentionality that is expected of Jerusalem and this vineyard. And the fact that I should live and act, not motivated out of fear of destruction or wrath, but because of this beautiful picture and life--a thriving vineyard that is an expression of God's love and provision and intricate purposes--that the Spirit is constantly inviting us in to experience.

autopsy

I've been contemplating a lot the divorce that so often occurs in our culture between the heart and the head. So many times we use our logic to unravel complexities of faith, life, theology. It is so easy in our culture to comfortably analyze and blog and spit out information and Scripture and arguments that don't necessarily transform our lives, relationships or attitudes on any deep or meaningful level. I'm learning more and more (and over and over) that knowledge is not just an intellectual assent to an idea, but a deeply-rooted way of living that proceeds from our inner life. It translates into outward behavior and choices.

Proverbs 2 says:
"My son, if you accept my words
and store up my commands within you,

2 turning your ear to wisdom
and applying your heart to understanding,

3 and if you call out for insight
and cry aloud for understanding,

4 and if you look for it as for silver
and search for it as for hidden treasure,

5 then you will understand the fear of the LORD
and find the knowledge of God.

6 For the LORD gives wisdom,
and from his mouth come knowledge and understanding."

I got in a minor car accident last week. I hit my head so I wanted to make sure I didn't have a concussion so I checked myself into the ER. While I was sitting there on the hospital bed, my mind began to wander and I wrote this.

autopsy

hush, now.

we creep along in the dead of night
the moon scowling at our mischief
or perhaps we only imagine
its suspicious disdain

stealthily, secretly
we grasp and pull
your broken body from the tree
carry you deftly
and importantly
away, away
from familiar claws

that we might perform
your autopsy.

she reasons and interprets
with methodical glee
at the moment of your expiration
when you breathed your last
that the confusion and the loss
bellowed deeply from the bowels of hell
as a cry for the scarred and the lost
and the abused
and a rousing wail
against the plastic
and the whitewashed
and the unchanged

i think she's right.

but upon her life
you leave no so much mark
only a philosopher's kiss
hollow and rational
and reasonable
which stales the air
and dwindles passion

silently divorcing
her heart from her head

i watch her
hearken in her own illusion
of you but in part
and never in whole

i see your image
torn asunder
a mass of throbbing, pulsing
flesh and veins and bones
disembodied
in cold calculation

and i find
as i diagnose
her pitiable, blinded state
and mine

that we have quite dissected
the wrong Being.

Visualizing the Bible

Props to my band buddy Greg for posting this link. It's called "Visualizing the Bible" and National Geographic named this as one of the best science images of the year. The bar graph running across the bottom represents the 66 books of the Bible according to number of chapters. The lines extending back and forth represent the cross references in Scripture, demonstrating the "intertextuality" of Scripture, or "the shaping of text’s meanings by other texts." It's amazing how visually stunning this looks. Check it. And also check Greg's blog while you're at it;)