(Originally Published June 9, 2015)

“When we are crushed like grapes, we cannot think of the wine we will become.”
― Henri J.M. Nouwen, Can You Drink the Cup?



To live life to it’s very fullest, we must be willing to drink both joy and sorrow. That sounds like an oxymoron. This was Henry Nouwen’s experience. A fascinating man who spent nearly two decades  teaching at academic institutions including the University of Notre Dame, Yale Divinity School and Harvard Divinity School, Nouwen went on to work with mentally and physically handicapped people at the L’Arche Daybreak community in Richmond Hill, Ontario.

I have not finished his book Can you drink the cup?, but I can relate and be exhorted and challenged in what I have read.

As I hold my morning coffee cup making plans for my daughter’s wedding; it’s a celebratory cup! I lift it up! How exciting, a new family  being forged together in this world. It may have even come in contact with tears of joy from my cheeks as I drink… excitement for my daughter and soon to be son-in-law and the plans they exuberantly communicate for all to hear.

And I have also held this cup two hand-idly and  tightly going through a deep personal journey…close and to my chest. My tears most definitely coming in contact with the contents within the cup, making it salty and the drink honest and raw.

I am looking at my cup, like Nouwen suggests, reflecting on each experience life brings….embracing the uncertainties, the sorrows, the joys….It brings healing to our lives when we do. It makes us people with more depth, more compassion, and more love.

…Although they do not press the grape seeds used in grape seed oil, but use a chemical extraction….the oil made from it can be very useful to us in a variety of ways.

It can be used as a carrier oil in Aromatherapy leaving a glossy sheen on the skin.

It can also be used as an oil to infuse herbs into; try garlic, rosemary, thyme or tarragon among others. This infusion could be used as a salad dressing as grape seed has many good oil properties. It also has a high smoke point which makes it a great oil to cook in.

It can also be used as a lubricant for shaving and as a hair growth and strengthening treatment.

Have you ever used grape seed oil? Have you ever read a Henry Nouwen book?!! We want to hear from you.