My husband and I recently visited my favorite local winery:  Chateau Ste. Michelle in Woodinville.  I could spend all day walking around their grounds, chasing the peacocks, sipping a variety of wines, and poking through the gift shop.  We also took the free tour of the facility, followed by a wine tasting.

At our wine tasting, our tour guide gave us a brief introduction to the art of appreciating wine.  Once upon a time, I took a wine tasting class at a local community college, but all I could remember was “don’t sniff the cork; you look like an idiot.” 

The guide gave us each our first glass of wine, a cool chardonnay to start.  I’d been cradling my glass in the palm of my hand, and the guide was quick to point out that we should hold the wine from the stem because otherwise, we’d heat the wine with our hand. 

Next, he showed us how to sniff the wine appropriately, long after I’d stuck my nose into it and indiscriminately took deep whiffs of the alcohol vapors.  He informed us that such amateur efforts would temporarily incapacitate our noses because the strong dose would overwhelm our senses.  I turned my head away and nonchalantly tried to revive my nose by sniffing something stimulating, like fresh air, or my armpit. 

The best way to sniff wine is to take softer, shorter inhalations, pausing between them to savor the smells.  This way, the alcohol doesn’t overwhelm your senses, and your nose has time to recover between whiffs. 

Next, he wanted to release the scents even more.  Our guide instructed us to carefully swirl the wine within the glass.  All 20 of us stood there, swishing wine around like clowns spinning plates, until he finally told us to stop about 30 seconds later. 

Our next whiff was far more spectacular, with many more scents releasing themselves for our appreciation.  A little stirring of the wine had released beautiful aromas that lay dormant, just waiting to be woken up with a little air and motion. 

While I was reading my Bible this morning, I thought back to my trip to the winery.  Lately, I’ve been struggling with getting much out of my morning Bible reading, and I wondered if there was a way to awaken my senses for the Bible, just like I’d awakened my senses for the wine.

At times, I feel like I’m taking that huge first whiff, and just overwhelming myself, also not taking the time to process it.  I’ll try to tackle too many chapters at once, or I’ll just fly through them at a fast pace.

Other times, I’m reading less, taking in a palatable amount, but I wonder how I can stir things up, to bring out all those beautiful aromas and flavors that are just hiding there beneath the surface, waiting to come forth with a little effort and concentration.

I recently listened to a great talk by Andy Davis at the Gospel Coalition Conference (2007) on “Cultivating Biblical Meditation and Prayer” (Download it here).  He suggests, among many things, praying this verse: “Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law” (Psalm 119:18 ESV).  Asking Jesus for some help can greatly assist our Bible appreciation efforts, but I guess that’s not surprising, since he helps out in every other area of life.

How do you stir things up?  How do you awaken your senses to the beauty in the Bible?