In the vineyard, we can’t force the grapes grow, no matter how hard we labor and toil. It is beyond our power to produce them. But we have a massively important role: we have to prune and thin the vines. We have to spray to keep mold from growing, and tie on bird tape so the grapes don’t get eaten by birds. We can’t make the sun shine, but we can pull the extra leaves off so that the sun’s rays can reach the grapes directly.

Spiritual writers for centuries have been constantly trying figure out where God’s work ends and ours begins.  I received an email from a friend last week that said,  “Especially intriguing is the mystery of how God is the one who initiates, and we cooperate with it all.”