‘Cause I gotta have faith…

This post is inspired by the Monthly Wine Writing Challenge (#MWWC31), managed by Jeff @ The Drunken Cyclist. Check out his site for more (better) wine blog reading & links to previous entries. This month’s theme, Faith, was chosen by last month’s winner: Allison, of OkieWineGirl!

This Monthly Wine Writing Challenge badge was designed by the first winner, The Armchair Sommelier!

Faith. Let’s start with the basics.

It’s a loaded, five letter word. Wine is a four letter word. Words are just words, but with a little faith, combined with an excessive amount of wine, words of any length have the potential to be slurred. 

“It’s not called slurring your words. It’s called talking in cursive and it’s elegant.”

“Aaaaaahhhhhhhh!” (Soprano, operatic diva singing to Bacchus)

Sometimes our thoughts can slur…

I haven’t witnessed anyone slur their words in ages, but when I saw the theme for this month’s wine writing challenge, my thoughts sort of swerved all over the place—the equivalent of slurring, I suppose. They went to the obvious, and tiptoed right around religion, avoiding it like politics and bad, cheap, oaked Chardonnay. I like the idea of having faith in one another, goodness, and balance in all aspects of life (including balanced wine, of course).

“What if religion was each other? If our practice was our life? If prayer was our words? What if the temple was the Earth? If forests were our church? If holy water – the rivers, lakes, and oceans? What if meditation was our relationships? If the Teacher was life? If wisdom was knowledge? If love was the center of our being.”

~A Poem by Ganga White

Faith is a personal thing.

The word faith means so much to so many people, filled with personal meanings and interpretations. For me, faith is my sister and nephew finding a starving, abandoned kitten in a parking lot and doing the right thing—making sure he was taken care of (yes, they drove him directly to my house that night & we’ve officially adopted him). It’s taking a long drive to meet your friend’s new baby and everyone sitting around with bedhead eating homemade, fresh blueberry pancakes the next morning. It’s kindness, a hug, a sip of red wine, a song to sing to, seeing the beauty in the little things…

The sweetest of little things: Benjamin on the left and fluffy Heniu on the right. Both beautiful examples of faith in all of the goodness of the world.

“You could say I lost my faith in science and progress
You could say I lost my belief in the holy Church
You could say I lost my sense of direction
You could say all of this and worse, but
If I ever lose my faith in you
There’d be nothing left for me to do”

~Sting

I’ll never lose my faith in you, red wine.

“If I ever lose my faith in you” is a song I often sing to my glass of red, sometimes verklempt, the thought unimaginable. Faith is opening a bottle of (red) wine, taking a sip, and feeling the sharp, rough edges of your day, the shrapnel of the world around you, beginning to soften. Wine, for me, has also created a roofless, web-like sanctuary, connecting like-minded wine lovers—where we can congregate, share, support, and bask in those little moments of happiness. It’s also about being truly happy for other people, even when they have better wine than you. My faith in wine began a couple of decades ago. I don’t remember which bottle grabbed me by my hankering soul, but it must’ve been elusive, exclusive, and extraordinary—causing me to cry out an “Eee!” of delight, similar to a witch’s squee after experiencing a potion of perfection (Alternative Fact: It was probably cheap and easily accessible. I was in my 20’s).

I’m a little surprised Witch Hazel is adding white wine to her potion? Hmm, I would’ve gone with a dry red.

‘Cause I gotta have faith
I gotta faith
Because I gotta to have faith faith
I gotta to have faith, faith, faith

~RIP George Michael

Whatever bewitched form of dance consumes you, whatever guttural moan you make, or silent, awe-inspiring, internal sigh you give—as serotonin floods your system with feelings of happiness and well-being after taking an otherworldly sip, enjoy it. Share it with friends. Have faith in people, viticulture, farmers, grape growers, nature’s critters, harvesters, winemakers, and the science of fermentation!

Cheers to whatever happiness your faith brings you.

*I apologize for any run on sentences and/or questionable grammar that may have occurred during this post.