Why this photo?
Vineyards have become prolific in our lovely state and I would not have to search far to snap a photo of a lush and fruitful vine. Thus, my banner photo of a scraggly, fruitless little vine tenaciously grabbing an old guide wire appears a questionable choice. However, the photo behind my blog title was chosen for a number of personal reasons.
- Friendships should be tended and nurtured. A rustic wooden sign given to me by my dear friend Sara reminds me of this and reads, “It takes a long time to grow old friends.” I am blessed with several of these long growing “old” friendships. Making time for the tending of these treasures is a priority and the vine photo was taken during a special trip I took with another dear friend named Linda; our destination was her “Dad’s Place.”
- Reading the obituaries of people I do not know is honoring to that person's life and enriching to me as well--using this photo was giving honor to the life and legacy of Milford Schultz--my friend Linda’s dad--owner and caretaker of “Dad’s Place” for many decades.
- There are few subjects that have such a profundity of spiritual applications to me as does the vineyard. Having recently re-plumbed the deep lessons of John 15, I was thrilled to capture in my photo a visual of my understanding of verses one and two in particular.
In an effort to spend some focused time together Linda had asked if I could join her on a short trip across the state to camp at her “Dad’s Place.” Her father had recently passed away, family was in the process of preparing his home and property for sale and she needed to be there. A wonderful plan. I admit that cruising in her sporty little Mazda Miata, top down, hugging the curves on a beautiful mountain pass and taking in the overhead vitamin-D as we headed to the shores of Lake Chelan was certainly value-added. :)
Milford Shultz was an amazing man who lived to be over100 years old. I would call him a 20th century Renaissance Man of broad talents and interests who chose to live a private life. I did not know him well enough to be familiar with his entire repertoire, but I do know he was an adventurous, hardworking, always learning sort of man. He crafted with wood, painted extensively and photographed professionally. He was incredibly resourceful--reusing and repurposing before the word recycling was in our lexicon. He was an outdoorsman and a master gardener, passing on much of his love and learning to Linda. He planted tree and plant species galore on his land. He was the first grape grower in the region, eventually providing his crop to the Welches Company. My photo is of a remnant of his vineyard. The vines had been unwatered and untended for sometime and not much remained. What caught my eye was the snatches of cloth and bits of twine still on the guide wire. I saw these scraps as markers of a legacy--evidence of vines being tenderly and repeatedly lifted up over the years by the vinedresser--Milford Shultz in this case.
I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.
Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away [lifts up]; and every branch that does bear fruit, He prunes [cleans] it, that it may bear more fruit. ~The Gospel of John 15: 1-2
Branches of a vine left unattended often have the propensity to grow down to the ground and then spread indiscriminately--not choosing “wisely” where to reach as they grow. The ground is never a good place for a branch to be; there is dust and mud that keep precious sunlight from the leaves and rot and mildew that can render a plant worthless. The branches must be trained by a patient, skillful hand that will trellis the plant to grow rightly. One of the standard methods of trellising includes training the branches of each vine up and then horizontally along two levels of guide wires. From what I’ve seen the primary goal is the perfect amount of sun and air exposure from every angle possible.
Along the first guide wire is where the vinedresser will train the fruit-bearing branches to produce the clusters of grapes. Any grape grower will tell you vigorous pruning cannot be ignored nor over emphasized. Inherent in the term pruning is the (seemingly ruthless) cutting back of branches that have already shown themselves as fruit bearers. But pruning also indicates “cleaning." Leaves are washed off and shoots continually brought up out of the dirt. Being cleaned and pruned deeply will yield the most succulent grapes. Still, the vinedresser knows not every branch will accept its opportunity to produce fruit.
I'm thinking of the Bible's accounts of Esther and also Judas. Esther was chosen “for such a time as this” to intervene for the people of Israel--to produce fruit if you will--that would save the people from a wicked plan to annihilate them. Had she not not accepted this opportunity and submitted to the Vinedresser, then God would have raised up another shoot for the honor. Judas Iscariot was chosen along with the other eleven disciples to be a shoot under the most intimate care of the Vinedresser; he was to take the good news of Christ to the world. Yet, he bore no fruit, he refused pruning, he was not cleaned, and thus he was "taken away"--cut off from the Vine and cast away.
The second guide wire is where the more leafy branches are trained to grow. At first it seemed counter intuitive to me that this high-point of the vine is not where its glory--its best grapes--are produced and displayed. Though not "taken away" and discarded, it is necessary that some shoots of the branch are "lifted up" from the prime fruit bearing section to the higher guide wire. In this position they create a canopy of sorts, a micro-climate for the fruit clusters to grow below, giving the best spacing, air circulation and controlled exposure to direct sunlight for the entire vine.
I found it serendipitous to discover the remnants of a vineyard when I strolled the grounds of “Dad’s Place.” I thought I was taking pleasure in a weekend spent with a friend. I had no idea I would be caught up in Milford Schultz’ legacy as a vinedresser on that old guide wire; the twine and cloth fragments remained as evidence of how he took away and lifted up shoots; how he created just the right environment for the best fruit to thrive on the branch that had been trained and pruned and cleaned just below. And I was thrilled to capture a picture of what God had been impressing upon me about John 15; 1-2. May I stay vitally connected to the Vine, Jesus. May I be surrendered to the wise pruning, lifting, training and cleaning of the Father, the Vinedresser. May I accept the offer to bear much fruit via His Spirit in me. May the guide wires of my life leave evidence and a legacy for those who come after me. May it be so.
