With wine at hand, the good man concerns himself, not with getting drunk, but with drinking in all the natural delectabilities of wine: its power to turn evenings into occasions, to lift eating beyond nourishment to conviviality, and to bring the race, for a few hours, to that happy state where men are wise and women beautiful, and even one’s children begin to look promising. . . . Wine is simply water that has matured according to nature’s will. . . . God gave us wine to make us gracious and keep us sane. The light aperitif en famille, and the half bottle or bottle split between husband and wife over cold meat loaf and brawling children, are not solemn alcoholic dosages. They are cheerful minor lubrications of the frequently sandy gears of life.
Make us gracious and keep us sane. A cheerful minor lubrication for the sandy gears of life. . . .
To God’s goodness! Here. Right now. At this place. To Easter!