Uisge Beatha (water of life)

Rhona Cathcart July 21, 2017 0 2

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Psalm 65: 1-3

1 Praise awaits you, our God, in Zion;
    to you our vows will be fulfilled.
2 You who answer prayer,
    to you all people will come.
3 When we were overwhelmed by sins,
    you forgave our transgressions.

It has taken me years to develop a taste for whisky. It should be in the blood - my mum is from Islay after all. But my first taste of an Islay malt - one summer there when I was 15, made me wince. My taste buds, like whisky itself, needed to mature to be able to appreciate the full smoky peaty flavour. Everything about whisky requires maturity - from the aging of the oak used to make the casks, to the aging of the spirit within, to the aging of our taste receptors. Along the way, the whisky mellows, losing its sharp metallic tang - they call this ‘subtractive maturation’. It also acquires some of the flavour of the cask - often toffee, vanilla, oak. This is additive maturation. There’s also something called ‘interactive maturation’ in which the unique character of the particular distillation and malt interacts with the cask. 

Our journey to maturity is also a process of addition, subtraction and interaction. We learn, we experience loss, we have different encounters. When can we say we have reached maturity? Perhaps when we recognise and accept that we are a work in progress, our unique flavour the product of all that has shaped us - including our flaws. Maturity in faith means trusting that God is in the mix.

Lord, I want to mature well.

To become mellow, rich, sweet, and warm, 

without losing my fire 

or what makes me, me. 

Help me to remember that this is a process which cannot be rushed. 

I cannot dictate its speed

I cannot control all the elements which are shaping me.

But where I can choose, 

may I choose well. 

Teach me to add what is wise and generous and true 

To subtract what is selfish and unnecessary and unkind. 

To interact with life with skill and courage and good humour. 

Lord, help me to acquire some of the flavour of Christ 

that others may taste and see that the Lord is good. Amen.