Wine

When talking with my pastor about Frederick Buechner a week or two ago, he reminded me of this paragraph on wine from Buechner’s Wishful Thinking: A Seeker’s ABC. For some reason, I prefer this kind of reflection more than the grasping-at-straws arguments that try to claim that wine in the Bible was “just like cool-aid” and wine is forbidden for Christians. (Although that sermon a couple weeks ago at a church I attended before I moved was good for a laugh when a friend warned me “not to drink the cool-aid.”) Anyway, here’s Buechner’s commentary on wine.

WINE
Unfermented grape juice is a bland and pleasant drink, especially on a warm afternoon mixed half-and-half with ginger ale. It is a ghastly symbol of the life blood of Jesus Christ, especially when served in individual antiseptic, thimble-sized glasses.
Wine is booze, which means it is dangerous and drunk-making. It makes the timid brave and the reserved amorous. It loosens the tongue and breaks the ice, especially when served in a loving cup. It kills germs. As symbols go, it is a rather splendid one.