When I studied at CalArts many years ago, I rented a room in a Sunset Boulevard mansion from an Egyptian psychologist. He once told me of healers in Egypt who use the power of suggestion to perform seeming miracles: making the blind see, the lame walk.
Jordan Peterson, who is hosting a series of discussions on the Gospels, points out that the very first miracle Jesus performed was turning water into wine (John 2:1-11).
As the world prepares to imbibe in celebration of the New Year, it strikes me as curious that such an important event as the first miracle produced wine.
Was Jesus endorsing wine?
Some scholars do draw parallels between Bacchus and Jesus.
I looked up the Bible passage. John doesn’t actually say that Jesus turned the water into wine. Rather, He directed the servants to fill large jugs with water, and then to take a cup to the host, who found it superb.
But maybe what the host found so enjoyable was water. Not wine.
When my son and I went out for had Christmas Eve dinner, we ordered water. It was delicious. Better than wine. No hangover.
Maybe Jesus, in his hidden character as humorist and Zen master, was telling us to savor what’s really good for us.
This passage from Heather Heying’s year-end review resonates:
We have become a sick, out of shape, and confused people. We accept meds for every perceived ailment, including the ones caused by the last meds. The ingredients in the prepared foods on our grocery store shelves are a toxic brew—far more toxic than the products allowed on the shelves in other countries. Our food pyramid is inverted, and the recommendations coming out of nearly every agency tasked with watching out for our health are the inverse of what healthy people should do. Do not listen to the FDA, the USDA, or the CDC. Instead, eat animal proteins and fats, and produce that has been grown with as little chemical intervention as possible, savoring every single bit. And then do what is free and feels good. Go outside and face the sun. Walk. Form relationships. Touch people, and also grass and water and soil. Be barefoot under a night sky.
Check out Heather’s Substack here.
Wishing all of you a happy, healthy New Year.
Laurel