Everyone Under Their Vines and Their Fig Trees

Everyone under Their Vines and Their Fig Trees
1 Kings 4:20-5:18

A few weeks ago my son and his family were visiting, and we spent some great times sitting out in the shade eating bread and cheese and drinking wine while the children played in the pool. The eruption of a volcano in Iceland halted flights back to Europe and confined my visitors to California for five extra days, which didn’t trouble them too much and made for some extra, unexpected relaxed and unplanned lunches like that. They reminded me of times we had as a family nearly thirty years ago when my sons were the children, my wife and I were the parents, and my mother and mother-in-law were the seniors. We would sit under the shade of a tree in the garden of a French gite (as the French would call it) or cottage (as Brits would call it) or cabin (as people in the United States would call it) eating bread and cheese and drinking wine, though without a pool to amuse the children. For me there is a picture of heaven there, or at least a picture of old age: sitting under your vine and under your fig tree, eating, drinking, and enjoying yourself...