Life Lessons From A Vineyard

Every Labor Day weekend we harvest my brother’s small vineyard, something my oldest daughter especially looks forward to every year.  There’s a lot of laughter coming from the rows of vines, and there’s much joy in the tradition. Someone inevitably needs first aid. Half-filled buckets roll down the steep hill because of the angle at which they are perched, grapes flying everywhere amid groans of annoyance. Through all of this though there are many life lessons from the grapes, and so many parallels to spiritual growth.

When grapes grow in their natural environment, where water and nutrients may abound, they have shallow roots, and although they produce beautiful leaves, there’s little fruit. The fruit they do produce is often bitter and tart. In other words, they’re lazy and what they produce is worthless.

However, when the plants are hedged in by their thoughtful vintner, when they do not have the creature comforts of being given all they could use at any given moment, that’s when the real magic begins.

Grapes grown in a vineyard are unnaturally placed in close rows, trained on posts and wires, competing for what they need, striving to survive and thrive. They do not have an endless supply of water and nutrients, so they search for it. In fact, the vintner may purposely stress the plants by creating mini droughts on one side of a plant or another. These stressed plants produce deep roots, seeking diligently after what they require for life, and their focus turns to producing fruit instead of pretty, showy leaves. Counterintuitively, the healthiest vines produce a smaller yield, but much higher quality grapes.

There’s a balance here, however. Too much stress and the vines can shut down. Too little and they become lazy.

The fact is that growth happens when we are challenged, not when our environment is ideal. And the Lord of the harvest knows how to strike the perfect balance to yield the best fruit.