Biblical Viticulture

Random thought:

Paul says in II Corinthians 4:8-9 that we are "pressed, but not crushed". That's a very fine distinction. I was thinking about a couple of different things--the first of which was the process for making perfume from flower petals. The sweetest fragrance supposedly comes from those petals that have been merely pressed, but not entirely destroyed by getting crushed.

Grapes go through a similar process when being made into white wine. As you most likely know(one would hope), in order to make a wine, you have to smoosh grapes and allow them to ferment (that's an overly simplified statement, I'm sure). Red wine is made when grapes are completely crushed--to the point where the skin breaks and is allowed to permeate the wine.

White wine, however, is made from grapes that are pressed just to the point where the clear juice and sugars come leaking out--but never to the point where the grapes are completely smashed.

So when the Bible says that we are pressed, but not crushed it means that when we find ourselves in a tough spot (caught between a rock and a hard place, so to speak), we are not "squished" to the point of being completely destroyed. Yes, we may have our "juices" (our energy, our love, anything that flows from our heart) come pouring out, but God holds us in one piece--providing a protective skin (His strength and the all-powerful control He has) that helps hold everything together.

Like a good vintner, He knows exactly how much stress our "skin" can stand before splitting apart and ruining the delicious mixture He is trying to make out of our life, particularly out of the hard times that we experience.