Living in wine country, I am blessed with the option of driving to work along a trail of wineries. If I leave early enough I am able to catch the day bloom, chrome like, with coils of light needling through the swollen arms of grape vines. This summer, weeks of triple digit heat stressed many to the point of an early vintage. Here I find an interesting similarity to consider: overabundance of stress prematurely ages the grape as well as people. To some degree we have the capacity to be proactive and can control the amount of stress in our lives. Yet, we all encounter seasons where stress comes in triple digits and is relentless. During such a season, it can be tempting to question, why does life have to be so hard, so painful, so unforgiving? We may even question God. Do you really love me? If so, why this trial, why this pain?
It is stress that brings out the sugar in the grape, it is stress that brings the fruit to its full potential, and it is stress that ultimately brings forth a beautiful wine. When we find ourselves in a season of triple digit stress, perhaps a better question to ask is: what beautiful wine might come of this?
~Sheila LaSalle
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