The Harried Mystic

Wine: nectar of the gods.

It is the stuff of fine dining, the celebration of Eucharist, preferred drink of special occasions, a full spectrum experience of tastes for every palette, a hobby for some, an obsession for others, and a beverage with extraordinary history. A drink that graced the tables of royalty and common folk alike for millenia. It remains a very special delight. Whether the subject of snobbery, object of regional and nationalistic pride, or culinary accompaniment, wine is arguably as old as most of civilised recorded history.

The reds are touted as especially wholesome in moderation and I confess that I am partial to them over the whites. I find the tastes much more complex. Each sip of my favorites opens with a burst of flavor and delicious sensations that change with each passing moment. In preferring the “dry” reds, Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz, Sirah, etc., I look forward to the first sharper notes followed by various spicy, oak and more varied hints of blueberry, and other fruity, citrus, and mineral notes as well. What is it that I am drinking? What is the magic of wine?

I open the cork and I catch a whiff of the earth. I let the bottle breath. Then I pour it into the glass, swirl it, enjoy the aromas; mixtures of the original grape, the oak, and the scent of Springtime. I take a first sip and allow it to move slowly over the tongue. It is the height of sensuous dining. It is no wonder that it is so associated with a romantic interlude.

I drink again and I taste the Sun, the light that infused the growing grape. Hard to describe, it is in the sensation and in the sense of energy that fills the wine. I taste the life in it and it is the same as the life in me. It is the bloodstream of the heavens. It is the manifest form of the Sun on earth. In drinking more from the glass, a long, meditative drinking leads to a timeless movement: a Oneness. In celebrating wine, I celebrate Creation.

It is not a memory. It is fully present: a living breath on the wine. I drink one glass and it is enough. It is an entire and complete experience. Unlike other beverages, this is more than quenching thirst. It is thirsting for wholeness.

There is stillness in a glass of wine not the frenzy of carbonated beverages. It is second only to water, the source of life. It is the fructification of life: its realization, its evolving complexity. It invites us to stay awhile and just taste.

There is a touch of divinity in wine. It recalls something vital and elemental from our deepest places. It is more than a drink. It is a Communion. At its best, it is the taking in of what we truly are: earth, air, water, and the fire of the Sun.

I am a voice of the wine. The wine is the voice of the cosmos. I am the song of the cosmos, beloved of the Beloved who sings me into being in each moment.

When the glass is empty and the wine is no more, the glass remains, awaiting a next filling. So we too, like the finest wine, will one day be emptied, but the glass of space and time awaits for the return, the refilling, the next outpouring of the cosmic Heart.

Salute!

© Brother Anthony Thomas and The Harried Mystic, 2009. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.