Hawai'ian miracle

Symphony Grape Vines blooming at Volcano Winery

Aloha kākou (Greetings to everyone!)
As many might know we have just returned from Hawai‘i. There we came across a miracle, something highly unusual - a tropical vineyard. Grapevines do not do well in tropics as they came from and they belong to the temperate zone. Some would say that they do best in Mediterranean climate.
     This Hawai‘ian vineyard was just blooming and doing very well. It grows and prospers only because it is planted 4,000 ft above sea level just next to an active volcano and thus in cooler air.
      The Bible came to us from the cradle of viticulture. All the biblical authors and audiences were surrounded with vineyards. They understood them and took them for granted.
      And although we do not live in the tropics (or the arctics) and although New York State (especially the Finger Lakes Region) is famous for its wines, we are not truly familiar with vineyards, their work, culture and symbolism.
      Join us this Sunday in uncovering the deep meanings of viticulture. Join us in rejoicing in their mystical, ethical and emotional meanings.
      A hui hou (See you soon!)    

And a small geo-theological observation.

      Theologians and scholars have been paying attention to the historical setting (historical context) of the biblical message. (World view has changed over the past thousands of years). But what about the geographical setting and climatic context of the Bible?

      Polynesians are not surrounded with vineyards, Papuans don’t keep sheep, Chinese normally don’t eat bread, Inuit fishing certainly looks different from the one on the lake of Galilee... These are, indeed, extreme examples. But they remind us not to make simplified inferences and easy unreflected assumptions about climate and our most basic life experiences.